


Tales of Travel

by DragonSorceress22



Series: Fall into Flying Universe [8]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Arson, Bloodshed, Bombs, Codes & Ciphers, Don’t copy to another site, Drugging, Fluff, I am horrible at ALL accents, I am meanest to my favorite characters, I swear I wasn’t kidding about the fluff tho, Kaito has KID withdrawal and so do I, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic Tricks, Makeouts, Melodrama, Murder, Mystery, Panic Attacks, Paranoia, Plot, Poison, Post-Conan Kudou Shinichi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sequel, Swearing, Torture, actually managed to include a bar fight by accident, author did a LOT of research, it took me so freaking long to write that it gets its own damn tag, long fic, lots of diversity, magic shows, merging of the Organizations, not explicit, reference to non-main-character self harm, silliness, suggestive stuff/sexy times, there's a Christmas Eve date in here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2020-11-23 03:56:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 74,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20885729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSorceress22/pseuds/DragonSorceress22
Summary: A traveling magician and a traveling detective hitting up various big cities around the world. What could possibly go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Brought to you ahead of schedule on account of [solomonara](http://archiveofourown.org/users/solomonara/pseuds/solomonara/works)'s speedy beta-ing!
> 
> So it's been a while! Here's a quick recap:  
In December, an Organization Task Force was formed with Interpol in Lyon. Then when summer rolled around Shinichi was kidnapped and tortured by the Organization. Kaito busted him out, but they'd both been through hell and were worse for wear. On top of that, Kaito was struggling to break into the magic industry until Sonoko hooked him up with Jody Hopper and her Magic Troupe, so the boys headed for London where they will surely have no problems at all and everything will be sunshine and rainbows forever (assuming you haven't read the tags for this sequel).  
And that's it! Enjoy!

_London, England_

_Mid-September _

*

_All members with orders regarding Kudou Shinichi are to stand down. He is to be avoided at all costs. Should your other assignments bring you into his range, divert and evade. That is all._

“Tch.” One long nail tapped restlessly against the edge of the laptop where the email was displayed. “Ridiculous.”

*

Shinichi spent their first week in London tucked away in their small flat recovering from a severe cold.

“I _knew _this would happen,” Kaito said, woken early that first morning by Shinichi’s pathetic coughing. “Aren’t you glad I made you wait to open the website to receive case requests until we’re settled in?”

Shinichi answered with a groan and curled a little on his side, coughing against the pillow. Kaito shifted closer and rubbed Shinichi’s shoulder as he pressed his lips to the back of his neck.

“You’ve got a fever,” he murmured. “I swear, whenever you get a break it’s like an invitation to a germ party. You catch colds almost as often as you catch criminals. I wonder if it’s got something to do with the antidote.”

“I’ve been like this since before that night in the amusement park,” Shinichi coughed. “Just crappy immunity all the way around, I guess.”

“Oh sure,” Kaito laughed quietly. “Can’t fight off a cold, but a drug that killed everyone else who took it? No problem.”

“Don’t you have a magic troupe to meet?” Shinichi grumbled.

Kaito smiled at the back of Shinichi’s head and slid out of bed. “Yeah, yeah. I’m going.” He took a moment to tuck the blankets more securely around Shinichi then pushed another kiss into his hair before heading to the bathroom. “Step one to Getting Real Famous, here I come.”

The small theatre Jody led Kaito into looked completely empty, but the house lights were on and Kaito could hear movement and murmurs coming from backstage. He was so certain that that was where they were headed he almost missed when Jody slipped down a center row of chairs instead, taking a seat in the middle. Kaito sat next to her.

“So, where is everyone?” he asked.

“Getting ready for the show.”

“What?” Kaito choked out. He scanned his memories quickly but he was sure he hadn’t read or heard anything about the tour having started already. “Geez, am I really that behind?”

“Calm down, Kaito– Can I call you Kaito? Or Kuroba, if you prefer–”

“No, no, ‘Kaito’ is fine. We’re in England, after all, right?” They’d been speaking Japanese the whole time, but Kaito knew it was only because they were talking one-on-one. He’d read the online bios for his new troupe-mates and it was a diverse group. English would likely be the standard.

“Anyway, it’s not an official show,” Jody continued. “The troupe just wants you to know what you’re up against.”

From the slight quirk to Jody’s lips Kaito knew she was aware of him trying to read into what she’d said, but of course she gave nothing away. The house lights dimmed and the stage lights rose.

“Welcome, Kaito Kuroba,” a voice announced in British-accented English through surround-sound speakers. It had an elderly waver to it that he thought he recognized, but then another voice took over – a young Scottish woman this time if he had to guess, though her voice had a low timbre.

“Tae tha Hopper Magic Troupe, an’ ta Hopper’s Magic Show!”

“Roberto is training a new manager to take over for him so he can retire,” Jody whispered, leaning over. “Her name’s Katie Elliot.”

Kaito nodded, carefully committing the name, role, and voice to memory. He would have a lot to take in during this show if he intended to hit the ground running.

“Am proud ta introduce our openin’ act,” Katie continued over the speakers. “Ahadi Mazrui anty rhythm a magic!”

It was round after round of incredible displays of talent. Kaito was no stranger to magic shows, but having an entire troupe perform directly to him while the troupe master sat at his side providing quiet, smug introductions and commentary was something else entirely. Imagining himself performing alongside them all was near overwhelming.

“That… That was incredible!” Kaito said to Jody after the final group bow. He gestured emphatically at the stage with both hands. “I can’t wait to get started!” He was on the literal edge of his seat, staring at the empty stage. His cheeks ached from grinning.

Jody smirked. “That’s only a small sample. Everybody here has plenty of tricks up their sleeves, and it’s different with a real audience, of course. West didn’t even get to show off his real act.”

“West…” Kaito repeated. He finally settled back, reining himself in. “Jack Weston, right? The illusionist with the pendulum and the quick hands?”

“He’s not an illusionist,” Jody said. “He’s a hypnotist. But that’s hard to show off without a volunteer.”

“Ah, right,” Kaito breathed out. “A hypnotist…”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all! I was just thinking of a hypnotist I met a few years back. We didn’t get along.” _Since he was trying to kill me and all._

“Oh? What’s the name? Maybe I know them.”

“I think he went by Von Goldberg on stage.”

“Oh. _Him_. Uh, listen,” Jody said, leaning in. “Do yourself a favor and do _not _mention Von Goldberg in front of West. He _really _doesn’t like that guy. West is very nice, but just mention Von Goldberg and he gets all stony.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kaito said, filing it away. “Anyway, before I meet everybody I wanted to ask about what you said before – that the troupe wanted to show me what I’m up against?”

“That’s right.” Jody stood and smoothed down the front of her slacks before tugging her blazer straight. Kaito stood as well.

“Well, aren’t we sort of, I don’t know, all on the same team?”

Jody chuckled as she led the way to the aisle and down toward the stage. Kaito was more than a little tempted to follow by walking on his hands along the chair backs. He hadn’t felt this excited or unrestrained since the Fête des Lumières, and that had been a _very_ long nine months ago.

“Yes, we are,” Jody answered as they went. “But there’s no denying a bit of rivalry. After all, our shows are only so long. In order to add segments, we have to take time away from other performers.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” His hand went to the back of his head, tugging a little on his hair. “That’s… a little uncomfortable isn’t it. Especially as the new guy.”

“Don’t worry too much about it. You’re not taking anyone’s spot or anything like that. There are other elements that affect it, anyway. Take West, for example. His act is big with the Vegas crowd, so during that show he’ll get more time and Nadette will get less. It’s about market research as much as anything, but…” She glanced back at him with a smirk. “If you really knock it out of the park, people will want to see you no matter where we go, right?”

Kaito let out a low whistle as Jody guided him past the stage left curtains. “Glad that stuff’s your job, not mine.”

“I grew up around it,” Jody said. “I don’t mind that part. And, well, everyone wants to see _my _act.” She winked then threw her arms out to encompass the bustle backstage. “Come on. Let’s get you acquainted with the team.”

Shinichi wasn’t consciously aware of when Kaito came back to the flat until Kaito crawled into bed with him. Then Shinichi woke just enough to paw at the nightstand and find a cold mask. He put it on and rolled toward Kaito, cuddling up to him and resting his head on Kaito’s chest. Kaito curled an arm around Shinichi and kissed the top of his head.

“How was it?” Shinichi mumbled, then coughed dryly.

“It was _amazing_, Shinichi,” Kaito whispered and there was a hint of awe in his tone. “I was surrounded by incredible magicians all day. It’s exciting, or… not even that – it’s _exhilarating_. And humbling.”

Shinichi coughed again, or maybe laughed. “I need to step up my game.”

“You need to recover,” Kaito said into Shinichi’s hair.

“I’m jealous of your job. After one day. It’s pathetic.” It was definitely laughter this time, though still a little hoarse.

“Yeah, well, keep in mind it _is _a job. Day one was a lot of fun but it’s gonna get down to work in no time.”

“You love it,” Shinichi said with an audible smirk.

Kaito just held Shinichi tighter. “I am one lucky bastard.” Shinichi laugh-coughed into his mask again and Kaito rolled his eyes. “Good night, Shinichi.”

“Mm,” Shinichi murmured. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

*

By the end of September Shinichi had recovered, had started taking cases, and had found that most of his requests could be solved without ever meeting the clients. The case details would come through email as part of the requests, he would ask a few questions, then he would provide his solution.

He and Kaito quickly repositioned the website toward this type of case and the number of requests skyrocketed. Cases started to come in from all over the world, increasing exponentially the more he solved. Secret admirers, lost items or pets, stalker cases, repeat offense vandalism or break-ins, people insisting that they or someone they knew was being framed, even myth-busting and sorting out rumors and local legends – anything was fair game.

Both Shinichi and Kaito suddenly had endless stories to tell each other when Kaito would return from working with the troupe. Still, neither could quite get used to normal conversations like “How was work?” when “work” didn’t mean stealing gems or involve explosives, and neither of them had even come close to being hospitalized in several weeks.

“This is nice,” Shinichi said one night over (an admittedly late) dinner.

“Hmm?” Kaito purred. He was eating from a little paper container filled with thick, greasy chips, plucking them up one by one with a pair of chopsticks. “That’s what you say, but is that how you feel?”

“Heh.” Shinichi picked at his pasty, considering that. “It’s just a little strange still,” he decided. “Knowing I won’t get a call or a text from the MPD. Knowing where you are and what you’re doing and knowing it’s not something that could get you killed. It _is _nice.”

“Mm.”

They were both quiet for while as they ate until Kaito asked, “How long do you think we can keep this up?”

“Well, it’s us,” Shinichi answered with a smile. “We’ll find some trouble before long.”

Kaito grinned back. “The tour starts tomorrow. Don’t forget – you’ve got a front-row seat.”

“Only if you _swear _there’ll be no ‘volunteers from the audience’ that don’t actually involve, you know, _volunteering_.” He got up and took his empty takeaway container the two steps to the under-the-counter rubbish bin. “I have no desire to end up onstage.”

Kaito lobbed his containers into the bin from his seat before Shinichi could push it back under the counter. “Oh sure, you’ll do it for Takayama Minami-san but you won’t do it for me.”

“_I told you we would never speak of that again_,” Shinichi ground out. “Clearly you can’t be trusted so I guess I’m not coming to the show.”

“Noooo, Shinichiiiii–”

“Nope.”

Kaito followed Shinichi the few steps to their bedroom. “But–” he said, hovering while Shinichi pulled some pajamas from the chest of drawers.

“No.”

He followed Shinichi the few steps into the cramped bathroom. “Oh, come on–”

“Whining won’t get you anywhere.”

He followed Shinichi into the shower. “Please?”

“Untrustworthy,” Shinichi stated as he lathered shampoo into his hair.

“I swear–”

“Do you _really_?”

“Would I lie–”

“Yes.”

“But don’t you want–”

“To enjoy the show without being humiliated? Yes, I do.”

“I would never–”

“Kaito.” Shinichi glanced back over his shoulder. Kaito huffed out a sigh and raised his right hand.

“I promise not to involve you in any way in the show. I won’t tell any of the others to pick on you either. I’ll even tell them specifically not to, if that’s what you want. I equally promise that I would be _utterly devastated for the rest of forever _if you weren’t there to see my debut show.”

Shinichi turned, the last of the suds running from his hair over his shoulders in the stream of water, and smiled as he reached for Kaito. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he murmured, pulling him in. Kaito sighed into the kiss.

“Stringing me along for nothing,” he muttered a few moments later. His hands smoothed over Shinichi’s wet skin. “Tease.”

“Drama queen,” Shinichi replied, but he rubbed up against Kaito and nipped at his ear as Kaito gasped. “You’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

“I… I have a feeling we both will,” Kaito answered, breathless, and he let himself melt into the steam and the heat of the contact.

“So, how ‘bout it, Shinichi? What did you think of the show?” Liliana Gomez asked. She, Giorgio Fanucci, and Jack Weston had apparently “called dibs” on taking Kaito out to a pub to celebrate his successful first show with the troupe. It had gone off without a hitch, and afterwards had been a chaotic mix of performers and stagehands, staff, family, and friends all jostling to show off backstage and make introductions. But Kaito knew that Shinichi had been around theatre crowds for a large part of his life thanks to his mother, and he also knew that Shinichi wasn’t terribly fond of it all. As glad as Shinichi was to see where Kaito worked and to meet the troupe, he had no compunctions about cutting out a little early with a smaller group of some of the people Kaito had become particularly close with over the past few months.

“It was really impressive,” Shinichi answered. “That was a _lot _of talent for one stage.”

“Whose act was your favorite?” Giorgio asked casually, and Lili and West both elbowed him at the same time, one in the thigh and one in the ribs.

“Are you trying to cause trouble?” Lili scolded, but a beat later she added, “Of course, you _have_ to answer now, and you’re not allowed to pick Kaito’s.”

“Uh, well, I actually liked Ahadi Mazrui’s a lot,” Shinichi said.

“Called it!” Kaito cheered.

“But yours and Miguel’s was really good too,” he added to Lili.

“Well. Hypnotism isn’t for everyone,” West commented, cool and casual, and Shinichi immediately backpedaled.

“Oh, not that yours wasn’t–”

“He’s messing with you,” Kaito said and Shinichi glanced to West for confirmation. Sure enough he was smiling, just a bare hint of laughter almost more in his posture than in any sound.

“…I’m surrounded by poker faces,” Shinichi marveled and Kaito and Giorgio laughed out loud. “Um, Mr. Fanucci, what’s your job with the troupe?”

“No, no, no, he’s doing it wrong,” Lili complained at Kaito.

“Doing… what wrong?” Shinichi asked.

“Calling him _Mr. Fanucci _like it’s his _name_.”

“It… is his name?” Shinichi hazarded. He was fairly confident in his memory in general, and Kaito talked about work enough that he was sure he wasn’t remembering wrong.

“It is,” West assured him. “But nicknames are a little rampant in the troupe, and ‘Mr. Fanucci’ is his.”

“And I… shouldn’t be using his nickname because I’m not in the troupe?”

“You should use it _like_ a nickname. Not like you’re too stuffy _not _to use it.”

“Rude,” Kaito shot at Lili, but he was smirking.

“What’s wrong with a bit of respect for one’s elders?” Giorgio asked.

“I can’t say I think of you as an _elder_, Mr. Fanucci,” West replied.

“I’m more than twice as old as some people here.” He smiled at West and West immediately looked away. Giorgio turned his attention back to Shinichi. “Anyway, I’m head of wardrobe for the troupe. Couldn’t ask for a better job.”

“He is _excellent _at what he does,” Kaito added and Shinichi’s eyebrows went up. If Kaitou KID was complementing someone on their costuming skills, it was a true mark of quality.

“Jesus, this is so weird though,” Lili said, staring up at Shinichi. “It’s like walking next to a tame, polite Kaito.” Shinichi grinned at her. They’d taken an immediate liking to each other when they’d met, and it didn’t immediately occur to Shinichi that Lili was probably picking up on how comfortable Shinichi was around adults in unusually small bodies.

“She thinks you’re tame,” Kaito muttered to Shinichi in mystified disbelief. “And polite. You have no idea how wrong you are, Lili.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure this nugget is a real tiger underneath,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Shinichi mouthed the word “nugget” in Giorgio’s direction but he just smiled and shook his head with a shrug.

“Here we are,” West announced. He jogged ahead and opened the door to a bustling pub, holding it for the others as they piled in.

“All right, name your poison!” Lili cheered.

Shinichi and Kaito reflexively glanced at each other than away in random directions before Kaito answered, “Actually, neither of us drinks.”

Lili gave them a particularly flat look. “Yeah. Tiger nuggets. The both of you. Whiskey an’ water?” she added to West.

“Please,” West confirmed.

“Aaaand a martini, a little heavy on the vermouth, with lemon for Mr. Fanucci.”

“You know me well,” Giorgio laughed.

“We’ll get the nuggets some soft cider or something.”

“Is… Is that gonna be my nickname now?”

Lili, West, and Mr. Fanucci all grinned and Kaito turned a glare on Shinichi. “I blame you for this.”

Shinichi just shrugged and grinned too.

*

In December, Hakuba turned up in England, having come to spend the Christmas season with his mother. Shinichi jumped at the opportunity to catch up on the happenings back in Japan, and Kaito agreed to a compromise, refusing to spend a whole day with Hakuba but conceding to dinner.

“How is life in England, Kudou-kun?” Hakuba asked, and it was kind of nice to be speaking Japanese (in person) with someone other than Kaito after three and a half months. They were standing outside a restaurant, hands stuffed into pockets to fend off the slight December chill, and the collar of Hakuba’s Inverness turned up to block the wind.

“It’s great,” Shinichi answered, and he meant it, too. He couldn’t deny that it was freeing to be in a country that afforded him much more anonymity, and where no one knew what had happened over the summer. “The food takes some getting used to though. And some of the phrases.”

“Ah, yes. You learned English in Hawaii, I believe?”

“And New York,” Shinichi agreed. “But anyway, how are things back home?”

Hakuba was not inclined to pretend that Shinichi was looking for pleasantries. “Nothing concrete has come of our efforts to track evidence back from the mansion as of yet,” he answered. “However, the information and insight we have gained throughout the whole endeavor has been logged and is being analyzed. So far, the leads have all come to dead ends, but there are still items to follow up on. I believe if we keep at it we can make slow but steady headway.”

Shinichi nodded. His eyes were distant, his lips a tight line, and Hakuba shifted a little where he stood. Shinichi blinked and zeroed in on him, reading the small motion as the _Are you okay? _that Hakuba was holding back. “I’m all right,” he said.

“I am sorry,” Hakuba replied earnestly. “I know it does not help anything to have people constantly reminding you of what happened, but we do worry. You did not seem well before you left Japan, but you seem to be doing better now. At least, I hope that is the case.”

“Don’t worry about it. I _am _doing better. Things… are pretty different now.” The hunch of his shoulders eased as he spoke. “The life I wanted and the path I wanted to take… I didn’t want to admit that they had taken it from me. It kind of felt like surrender, you know? But I’m done fighting it. It’s true that I lost something but…” He glanced past Hakuba’s shoulder and something in his face brightened in the glow of the city lights. Hakuba didn’t need to turn to know that Kaito had arrived and was heading their way. “They also showed me there’s something I want more,” Shinichi finished, and Hakuba held in an exasperated sigh as Kaito came up behind him and flipped the Inverness cape up over Hakuba’s head.

“Hey Hakuba. Still a total Holmes freak I see. It’s nice how some things never change.”

Hakuba tugged his coat right again and ground out, “Good evening, Kuroba-kun.”

“Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.” Kaito led the way into the restaurant and Hakuba couldn’t help but notice how, while Kaito still moved to Shinichi’s side like a magnet and Shinichi still leaned subtly into him and gently took his hand, the desperation and need was much more muted now. He was glad of that. It was evidence that what Shinichi had told him a moment ago was not just practiced words of reassurance, but the truth.

“Don’t worry, Hakuba,” Shinichi said while they waited for a table. “I’ve been looking forward to a nice long discussion of recent casework. It should be a fun night.”

Kaito let out a pathetic sort of whine and Hakuba smiled. “Yes, I am very interested to hear about your new career.” The smile turned decidedly vindictive. “This will be nice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first update in this series since December of 2017! Almost 2 years! Which is how long it took me to write this! Guys, I am DYING. This. is. HAPPENING. Finally!!! I really hope you all enjoy~♥
> 
> (omg my heart is beating so fast right now I am seriously freaking out about finally starting to post this aaaaaah XD )


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will provide some background for the more cultural riddles in this chapter in the end note :)

The text on Shinichi’s phone when he’d gotten out of the shower Christmas Eve morning said, _“Get dressed and meet me~”_.

Laid out on the bed were a pair of dark slacks and a matching blazer with a slate grey dress shirt. Beside that was a black pea coat. Apparently, whatever Kaito had planned for their date, they would be outside for a good portion of it, and in relatively formal places for the rest. Shinichi smiled and got dressed then shrugged on the coat, his hand slipping into the pocket to find what could easily have been a heist notice if not for the lack of signature and caricature.

_“What marks the land below the hands of that sixth decade’s royal gem?”_

Grinning, Shinichi headed out.

Kaito was waiting outside the Houses of Parliament below Big Ben when Shinichi arrived. He had his hands stuffed into his coat pockets and a deep blue-green plaid scarf knotted around his throat despite the mild weather. The lightest of the plaid lines was a stark, bright blue the color of Kaito’s eyes and Shinichi had the irrational desire to bury his face in it. Instead, he stopped in front of Kaito and held up the card.

“I think ‘hands’ might have been a dead giveaway despite the Diamond Jubilee reference.”

“My apologies,” Kaito purred. “I’ll do better next time. But first…” He reached out, a pair of thin, soft gloves protecting his fingers from the slight chill, and took Shinichi’s hand. He tugged him over to touch a gentle kiss against his cheek. “Let’s take a look around~! You’ve been here before, but I’ve never really had the chance to see all this in person.”

They wandered a bit, taking in the impressive sight that was the Palace of Westminster as large red double-decker buses passed by, but Shinichi couldn’t help wondering why Kaito had chosen to start their day here rather than coming to see this place at night, when the lights on the river made a more dramatic display. Still, it was Kaito. He surely had something else planned.

They were looking out over the Thames from Westminster Bridge when Kaito proved him right, producing another card with a flick of his wrist. Shinichi couldn’t help the smile that curled across his lips as he took it.

“Heh, all right KID, if that’s how you want to play it,” he murmured for only Kaito to hear. Kaito smirked back, warm and amused, and Shinichi turned his eyes to the card.

_A weathered calm_

_Root’s skin, twin dice_

_The target and the sleuth_

“Hm…” Shinichi looked up but Kaito was gone. Then he turned, staring down the river at their next meeting place. “I see.”

“What would you have done if I hadn’t figured it out and made it here by the time you reached the front of the queue?” Shinichi asked, joining Kaito in line for the London Eye.

“Nonsense. You knew the answer almost before I’d vanished, didn’t you?” Kaito leaned in and this time his kiss touched the corner of Shinichi’s lips. Shinichi flushed, trying not to look too blatantly at the people in line behind them to see if they’d noticed. “Well didn’t you?” Kaito insisted.

Shinichi let out a sigh and pulled the second card from his coat pocket. “Eye of a storm,” he said. “Tuber eyes, snake eyes, bull’s eye, and private eye. It wasn’t exactly subtle when I could see the London Eye from the bridge.”

“Mm, maybe not,” Kaito agreed. “But I do like this line.” He tapped the tip of his gloved finger against the bottom line. “The target and the sleuth. You and me, yeah?” he said, whispered far too casually against Shinichi’s ear. Whether it should have or not, the reminder of the reckless ways they’d only seemingly left behind made Shinichi feel a little more settled.

“Hmph. Yeah, yeah,” he said, but he was smiling again and he let Kaito keep a close hold of his arm, pressed to his side the whole time they stood in line.

They were almost through their cycle on the Eye, nearing the bottom of the wheel, when Kaito presented the next card.

“Are you about to disappear again?” Shinichi asked, wry, as he accepted. “Maybe wait until we’re actually off this thing, okay?”

“Spoilsport,” Kaito laughed.

Just to be sure he actually did, though, Shinichi waited to look at the card until they’d disembarked.

_“The seven good children came down from the mountain. Now six above and one below guard the precious 140 evermore.”_

“…Hm.”

Kaito was gone, of course, and Shinichi moved downriver a bit to run a few quick searches on his phone. “‘One below’, huh?” he murmured, skimming through articles. “I had no idea. Still…” He looked up from his phone to scan his surroundings then went back to it to confirm the best route to his third destination.

Kaito was waiting for him at the bus stop nearby.

“Some gentleman,” Shinichi said as he walked up. “Leaving me to find my own way in a strange city.”

“Oh please. You’d know London well enough even if we _hadn’t _been living here for the last four months. And I’m here now, aren’t I?” He stole the third card back from Shinichi’s coat pocket and glanced over it. “So I assume you know where we’re going? You have good timing.”

Shinichi glanced over his shoulder at the bus pulling up, and led the way onto it when it stopped. “Of course,” he said. He headed for the farthest seats back on reflex so that they could see as much of the bus as possible, just in case. A bus hijack would be just his luck after all, but… Kaito was with him. That put the odds a bit lower, at least. “And I assume you’re here because a gentleman wouldn’t leave his date unentertained on a fifteen minute bus ride by himself?”

Kaito smiled wickedly. “Far be it from me to ever leave you unentertained, Tantei-kun.”

The kiss Kaito stole when they reached the Tower of London was a chaste one but it was on the lips. Shinichi had a feeling this kiss-escalation trend would be continuing all day. He blushed, warily eyeing the people around them, and changed the subject.

“Hey, they have an ice skating rink here,” he said far too brightly, and he snatched up Kaito’s hand so he couldn’t (or would be less likely to) run off. “Is that on the agenda for today?”

“Shinichi,” Kaito said in clear warning.

“What? You’ve got to learn _sometime_.”

“I know this is regarded as a place of suffering and all that, but let’s try not to get too literal, okay?”

Kaito had, of course, managed to time everything flawlessly. The tour of the Crown Jewels that they apparently already had tickets for was starting just as they arrived.

“So the ‘precious 140’,” Kaito murmured, pressed close against Shinichi’s side as they and dozens of others moved down a row of glass display cases all done in deep blue and shining under bright lights and brighter gems. “Have 23,578 precious and semi-precious jewels between them. But the one I’m most concerned about… is this.” They stopped in front of The Queen Mother’s Crown. “The Koh-i-Noor. Rumored to be cursed and said to give the impression of a black hole when viewed head-on, yet at the same time said to be ‘full of life’.” He was staring at the gem, a look of dark concentration on his face, and Shinichi shivered a little. He took Kaito’s hand and Kaito let out a sigh. “They say whoever owns it must surely die.”

“Well, isn’t that the opposite of what you’re looking for?” Shinichi whispered back, and Kaito’s expression took on a twisted sort of smirk.

“But what if it’s less a warning and more a piece of advice handed down? Like, ‘make sure that identity dies at some point or people will start to catch on.’ Like Sharon Vineyard.

“And anyway,” he went on, still whispering, and still staring at the massive diamond set in the crown even as they shifted to let others around them. “Did you know that the crown jewels were briefly kept in a room with huge windows? Then one day someone suddenly decided it was a fire hazard somehow. They moved the collection underground at that point. What if that was to keep it out of the moonlight?”

“Kaito…” Shinichi’s hand closed tighter around Kaito’s and Kaito breathed out a laugh.

“Don’t worry. No heists planned for this date.” He tugged Shinichi on, farther down the row of displays, but his mind was clearly still with the diamond. “But…” he added a little helplessly. “The jewels are cleaned just once a year, in January, by the only person outside of the monarchy permitted to touch them – Martin Swift, the Crown Jeweller.”

They fell silent, just taking in case after case of glittering stones and polished metal. Finally, Shinichi muttered, “Between the reference to… _that _nursery rhyme and all this cursed gem talk… I’d be lying if I said you didn’t have me a little worried, Kaito.”

“Heh.” He took a step away from the cases, tugging Shinichi by the hand to the outer edge of the group moving past, giving him his undivided attention and stealing Shinichi’s as well. “The Seven Baby Crows reference was… well partly because it fit so perfectly and partly because once I thought of it I couldn’t let it go. What if there’s a reason _they _use that song? What if it’s not a coincidence that it fits with the six ravens that have to be kept here or else the kingdom falls?”

“And Brân the Blessed?”

Kaito shook his head. “Another protection myth that brings our raven count to seven. I’m just saying it’s… something to think about.”

“Sure,” Shinichi agreed, though hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

Kaito was staring back at where they’d left The Queen Mother’s Crown behind. He hurriedly turned back to Shinichi. “Yes,” he said, firmly, like he was convincing himself. But then he reached out and slid his hand against Shinichi’s cheek, his eyes soft in the dim lighting away from the display cases. “And I _am _sorry to drag all this into our date, but… well, we’re pretty bad at getting out and seeing the sights under normal circumstances and I… just had to see it for myself, you know?”

Shinichi rested his hand over Kaito’s, keeping it there against his cheek so he could press a kiss to Kaito’s palm. “It’s fine. I don’t mind. Just as long as you really are okay.”

“Better than okay,” Kaito answered with a smile. He led Shinichi back into the flow of people along the line of display cases, their hands linked tight. “Come on. Let’s enjoy the rest of the collection for now. I’m getting excited about the next stops I’ve got planned.” He tossed a carefree grin back at him and Shinichi relaxed enough to feel that excitement again too. He’d almost forgotten for a moment, but this _was _still a Kaito-planned Christmas Eve date, and that always meant good things.

Outside of the Tower, Kaito presented the next card.

“Don’t worry; I promise they’re not all the standard touristy landmarks. I just wanted to include a few of those while we had the chance.”

Shinichi took the card and gave it a cursory glance, his mind already rushing, turning over every word. “Isn’t it a little weird that we keep splitting up for this date?” he asked, but his eyes were alight as he read the card and Kaito could _see _it – Shinichi having the time of his life on a riddle quest in London.

“Well~” Kaito said. “As long as you always come back to me, I think we’ll be okay.”

“Idiot,” Shinichi mumbled. Kaito just winked and disappeared right in front of him in a swirl of blue smoke. Several people nearby jumped, but then Shinichi heard one of them let out an indignant, “I _told _you he looked familiar! That was Kaito Kuroba! The new guy with Hopper’s Magic Troupe!”

Shinichi grinned and turned on his heel, heading straight for the exit. He knew enough about getting recognized on the street to know when it was time to go or else get caught up in a fan conversation for longer than he’d like. After all, he had a date to get back to.

This latest card was a poem:

_Meet me at the place of meeting,_

_Of chemistry a passionate red,_

_Of learning and of testing,_

_Of all alive and all those dead._

He was confident enough in the location that when Kaito did not reappear at the bus stop, Shinichi got on anyway. It was a short ride to St. Bart’s Hospital and that was where he found Kaito, waiting for him in a patch of sunlight that had escaped the cloud cover, just out of the shadow of the blocky building.

“Do I want to know how you’re managing to get everywhere so quickly?” Shinichi asked. Kaito just smirked and kissed him again in response. This time his lips lingered and Shinichi took the opportunity to take Kaito’s hand, his fingers sliding against the warm, soft glove. He felt a little over-warm himself when the kiss ended.

“I think I’m sensing a theme,” he murmured for something to say.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Kaito replied with a smile. “So?” he added, looking up at the hospital.

“Heh. Bart’s,” Shinichi said, smug. “Where Holmes and Watson first met in a chemical research lab in _A Study in Scarlet_.”

They took an unhurried walk around the building, taking it in, but they were in silent agreement not to go inside. It was a Sherlockian landmark, to be sure, but it was also a functioning hospital.

After their brief circuit they found a bench nearby and Kaito produced thermoses of coffee and hot chocolate while Shinichi stared up at the massive, grey structure that was St. Bart’s.

“It’s interesting,” he eventually said. “This is the first time we’ve gone to a hospital in four months. It’s good to be visiting one for a leisurely reason, I guess.”

“Definitely,” Kaito agreed.

“And it’s quiet here.” He edged closer on the bench, letting his shoulder rest against Kaito’s. “As far as meeting places go, it’s no clock tower.”

Kaito grinned. “We do like to keep things flashy. Hey, you hungry?”

Shinichi sat up a little. “Oh. Yeah, I guess I am. I’ve been a little caught up.”

“Good,” Kaito said, grin sharpening. The next card appeared between his fingers and he handed it to Shinichi.

“Should you really be giving me so many hints when you hand these over?” Shinichi teased as he accepted the card. “You mentioned the touristy stuff last time, and now lunch–”

His eyebrows knit together as he looked down at the odd writing on the card. When he looked up again, Kaito was gone.

Old habits died hard, and Shinichi still carried a small notebook and pen with him in his breast pocket. He balanced it on his knee and drew out dashes like a hangman game to match up with the “letters” on the card.

_A phrase with an apostrophe is most likely going to be in English. The letter after the apostrophe would be an S or a T._

He made a note then caught the end of his pen between his lips.

_Double letters are usually E, O, P, or S. Though maybe M, N, or G. Or R. _“Ugh.” He drew a line through that note and lamented Kaito’s thematic code-writing. _Japanese would be easier…_

_Okay, _he thought, refocusing. _A leading three-letter word is most likely “the” since there’s no question mark at the end. If I assume that… _He filled in some letters. _And if T is this symbol here… _He tapped the page. _The letter after the apostrophe is an S. That would make the last word “street”. _He was smiling as he filled it in until he realized there were no other R’s. “Okay,” he breathed out. _Let’s take a step back and see what we have so far…_

It wasn’t much, but it was enough. _This two-letter word – there are still quite a few options left, but the phrase is probably “on ‘something’ street” so if that’s true… _He filled in a few more N’s then muttered, “Well, this is England after all,” and filled in the word “Queen’s”.

_So this other three-letter word has a U in the middle… Heh, lunch in England. Of course it’s a pub. “The Queen’s ‘something’ Pub on ‘something’ Street.” With the letters I have left… pretty sure this should be “Queen’s Head”. _

He filled it in, and the other corresponding letters. “Well… one blank, and it’s a street name. I’d say that’s good enough for an internet search.”

The Queen’s Head pub on Denman Street was just a quick walk back to the bus stop near St. Bart’s and a quick bus ride to Regent Street. Kaito was waiting for him at the stop.

“Well?” he purred.

Shinichi held up the notebook to show his solution.

“Ooh, old school,” Kaito said. “Come on, I’m starving!” He grabbed Shinichi’s hand and tugged him toward Denman Street, laughing as they dodged around people on the sidewalk.

They were both hungry enough and the food at the pub good enough that they were almost done eating by the time Shinichi realized something was missing.

“Hey,” he said, pulling Kaito’s attention away from the mini Tokyo Tower he was somehow constructing out of leftover chips. “I didn’t get my kiss for solving this one. It was harder than the others since I’d never heard of this place before today.”

Kaito grinned. “Well then~” He plucked up another chip and clamped it between his teeth, leaning over the table between them and wiggling his eyebrows. Shinichi’s eyes darted to the side, making a quick scan of the other people in the pub, but he’d already made up his mind. In the short time they’d been there, he’d noted a few other same-sex couples who seemed comfortable about their relationships. It wasn’t exactly an invitation for a public display of affection like this, but it did make Shinichi feel emboldened enough to take the bait. He leaned in too and bit off the other end of the chip, not even pulling back when Kaito’s tongue darted out to take a lick of the grease and salt from Shinichi’s lips. When he settled back, Shinichi licked his own lips as well and took a sip of his coffee in what he’d aimed to be a nonchalant manner. From the way Kaito was snickering, he’d probably failed.

“You know,” Kaito said. His tone was all trouble. It made Shinichi’s pulse race. “I think this is going pretty well.” Another card appeared in his hand and he passed it across the table to Shinichi.

“You’re gonna jinx it,” he muttered into his coffee mug even as he accepted the card.

“Of course not.” Kaito winked. “I’d never allow it.” Then he disappeared.

Kaito joined Shinichi again on the bus ride to their next stop, and they stood together outside the Baker Street Station on Marylebone Road. It was busy – a perfectly ordinary tube stop, the entrance of which was tucked between two shops on a rust brown brick sidewalk. They took a walk through the underground though, just to see that distinguished silhouette – the deerstalker, the hook nose, the pipe and Inverness – and it was _everywhere_.

Shinichi seemed both elated and distracted the whole time, so when they returned above ground to stand at the foot of the towering bronze statue of Sherlock, Kaito just gestured at its base.

“Well, consider this your next hint, Tantei-kun, cause I think we both know there was no point to me writing up a clue for this one–”

Before he’d even gotten the words out Shinichi had snatched up Kaito’s hand and started running down Marylebone Road toward Baker Street. He didn’t stop even a moment the whole way, and not two minutes later Shinichi was standing before 221b, flushed and grinning as he stared up at the building’s façade. The area was bustling and touristy with a museum and souvenir shop and a queue outside the door full of people taking pictures on their phones, but Shinichi clearly didn’t care.

“I know this must look kind of lame to you,” he said, still staring at the building. “But it doesn’t matter. This is the _place_, you know? I can’t explain it.”

“Heh. You don’t have to.”

Shinichi finally looked back at him and Kaito took the opportunity to steal a kiss, his arms settling around Shinichi’s waist. He was a little surprised when Shinichi’s arms slid around him as well, pulling him in, and someone in the queue gave a too-loud wolf whistle. Kaito drew back immediately but Shinichi only let him, not pushing him away or even pulling back himself. He was grinning like a fool again, like he hadn’t even heard the whistle, and his eyes were still locked on Kaito. Kaito’s stomach did something wibbley.

“Come on you Sherlock nerd,” he managed, getting himself back in hand. “I already got us tickets.” He pressed a thin pamphlet to Shinichi’s chest and Shinichi followed him into the queue.

When they finally entered the house, Shinichi spent a remarkable amount of their time inside with his eyes closed, counting the steps up to each floor, taking in the creak of the old wood under their feet, the smell of the fire heat in the little hearths of each room, trailing his fingertips along the furniture and instruments that had been set out. Kaito kept his eyes on Shinichi.

After they’d left and were standing on the street again, Kaito brought out the next clue with a flick of his wrist. Shinichi gave it a long look before accepting.

“Can’t wait to see how you plan to top this, KID,” he said, and Kaito shivered a little. He knew full well what it meant when Shinichi started slipping in his other name, and even more what it meant when he didn’t realize he was doing it.

“Wait and see, Tantei-kun,” Kaito breathed, and he vanished from the street.

It was a quick walk back to Baker Station, then from one Museum Street stop to another. From there, Shinichi made his way to the Royal Opera House where Kaito was waiting. He had the decency this time to tug Shinichi into a shadowed alcove in the low evening light before stealing his breath away with a pulling, lingering kiss. Shinichi laughed and leaned against him.

“What are you planning, KID?”

“I told you, you’ll have to wait and see~” Kaito scolded with an impish smile. “I considered working in seeing a show here, but I didn’t want to force it and waste so much of our day. But I thought you’d still like to see the place anyway.”

It was then that the white strings of lights on the trees outside of the restaurant next door blinked to life. Kaito tugged Shinichi by the hand and brought him out in front of the opera house again to look up at the three Christmas trees that were now glowing between the massive pillars one storey up. Kaito grinned. “Merry Christmas, Shinichi.”

Shinichi’s fingers closed tighter around Kaito’s. “Merry Christmas,” he answered with a smile.

“You know, there are some backstage tours we could take in early January – before we leave for Amsterdam.”

“Heh. We probably shouldn’t have left all our sightseeing ‘til the last minute. We’ll have to play it by ear, I guess.” He elbowed Kaito and nodded toward the restaurant next door. “That our next stop?”

“Ha! What do you take me for?” A card appeared between his fingers and he offered it to Shinichi. “Your work’s not over yet~”

When Shinichi stepped into the covered walkways of Covent Garden, he found himself standing beneath dozens of massive mistletoe chandeliers. Kaito reappeared beside him, barely containing laughter.

“Kaito,” Shinichi said, trying not to let that laughter catch on.

“I _swear _to you, I didn’t know it would be mistletoe. I just thought the Christmas lights over here would be nice.” He was still snickering though and Shinichi rolled his eyes.

“Well, at least we have an excuse,” he said.

“Yes, but first, come here.” Grinning, Kaito took Shinichi’s hand and hurried off to the other side of the stretch of shops and Shinichi quickly realized why. Under the chatter of people he could just hear strains of violin music, and it was getting louder. Then he saw them – a small cluster of violinists performing on the street.

“Also unplanned,” Kaito admitted, glancing back as he tugged him along. “But kind of perfect.”

Shinichi laughed as Kaito used their forward momentum to pull him into a turn, spinning Shinichi like a dancer, then tugged him in before he could quite regain his bearings. The kiss was that much more staggering for it, and he didn’t really mind. Shinichi clung to Kaito, let his hands push into Kaito’s hair as the violin music swelled and ebbed, and Kaito was satisfyingly out of breath when they broke apart.

Kaito licked his lips. “Come on, let’s look around. We have some time to kill before the next stop.”

The sky was fully dark but lights were shining off of the cobblestones when Shinichi and Kaito stumbled to a stop beside the towering Christmas tree just outside the rows of shops, laughing hard enough that they’d folded against each other. Kaito made another obvious swipe for Shinichi’s wrist and Shinichi turned away again, rolling against Kaito until he was behind him, pressed back to back so that Kaito couldn’t reach his watch.

“It’s the principal of the thing!” Kaito said, reaching back blind for another grab at it.

“I completely agree!” Shinichi replied. He raised both hands to remove the watch out of Kaito’s immediate reach and clutched it in his hand instead, careful of the tranquilizer’s trigger. Kaito spun and Shinichi took the opportunity, taking the strap of the watch between his teeth so he could catch Kaito’s hand when he went for his wrist again. He tugged Kaito around, holding Kaito’s arm tight between his own chest and Kaito’s back. Shinichi’s other arm settled reflexively under Kaito’s chin to restrain him. “You think ’m outta practice ‘r somethin’?” Shinichi mumbled into Kaito’s ear around the strap of the watch. “’m jus’ gonna let you commit _theft_ righ’ ‘n fron’ a me?”

He knew it was coming – knew it in his bones even more than the clues could tell him, more than the subtle and easy shift in Kaito’s muscles and the twitch of his gloved fingers. There was a soft explosion, a curl of emerald green smoke, and Kaito’s laugh suddenly rang out from behind Shinichi. He let out an exaggerated sigh, wholly unable to stop his smile from ruining its effect, and turned to see Kaito perched on the edge of the massive barrel surrounding the base of the 50-foot Christmas tree. He was swinging Shinichi’s watch around a finger and waggling his eyebrows at him.

“Get down from there!” Shinichi hissed, but he was laughing again. “You are _not _allowed to be up there.”

Kaito waved him off. “No one’s gonna say anything.” He dropped to sit on the edge instead and the branches bobbed around him.

“People are taking pictures!”

“And they better hold onto ‘em. Could be worth something when I’m famous~” Kaito grinned, an impeccably Cheshire expression with the neon backlighting of the tree, but he vaulted off of the barrel a moment later and landed in a crouch at Shinichi’s side. “Well, if your watch is correct, Tantei-kun, I think it’s probably time we head to our next destination.”

The clue card appeared in Shinichi’s hand this time, popping up between his fingers somehow, and Kaito tossed out a casual salute before vanishing in a shower of crackling sparks. Shinichi’s hand came up, covering his face as he cracked up laughing again. “You are the worst!” he said to the fading cluster of sparks.

He’d been making a point to not notice, but they’d definitely made a scene, and there were still some residual camera flashes going off. Still snickering, he turned up his coat collar and stuffed his hands into his pockets, getting lost in the nearest cluster of people until he’d put some distance between himself and the tree so he could stop and read the next clue.

The table Kaito had reserved at Simpson’s in the Strand sat beside a wide window. As Shinichi took his seat across from Kaito, he glanced down at the bustling night outside and breathed out, “Damn, but you’re good at this.”

“What’s that?” Kaito asked.

“Nothing, just… your attention to detail is kind of hot.”

Kaito let out a chuckle but his cheeks had also gone a little pink. Shinichi leaned against his hand, his elbow propped on the table, and smirked over at him. Then Kaito glanced around and leaned in, nodding Shinichi over. After a furtive look around Shinichi met Kaito in a quick but pulling kiss over their empty glasses.

“The table seems… a little large, doesn’t it?” Shinichi wondered as he settled back in his seat, his cheeks flushed. There were only two chairs and two place settings, but looking around confirmed that normal two-person tables were indeed quite a bit smaller. “We expecting company or something?”

“Don’t worry about that for now,” Kaito said. “Worry about what you’re gonna eat! Just make sure you leave room for coffee and dessert. A _lot _of dessert.”

Shinichi cast another glance at the extra space on their table then determinedly occupied his attention with the menu instead. He got the feeling he didn’t really want to know.

After dinner they only ordered three desserts to share between them. As it turned out, the extra table space was _not _for food – it was for the chessboard Kaito somehow produced after their dinner plates had been cleared away.

“Are you even serious right now?” Shinichi laughed. “Is that even allowed? Wait, why do I even ask anymore, I swear.”

“I cleared it with them when I made the reservations,” Kaito said, setting out the pieces. “They actually sounded like they liked the idea. Who knows, maybe we’ll start a trend. Chess was a big part of this place’s history after all.” He set the last piece and gestured for Shinichi to start. “Your move, Tantei-kun,” he said with a distinctively wicked curl to his lips.

They’d gone through their three desserts, several cups of coffee, and five rather evenly matched games before they realized that the place was emptying out.

“Oops, guess it’s getting pretty late,” Kaito said. He reached across the table and took Shinichi’s hand, turning it gently so he could get a look at his watch again.

“Guess we should head back home,” Shinichi sighed and Kaito’s eyebrows rose.

“Oh no you don’t. I’m not done with you yet.” When he pulled his hand back from Shinichi’s he left a new note card behind.

“What? Really?” Shinichi turned it over. “What… are you–?” He looked up and sighed. “Of course.” Kaito was gone.

Shinichi walked down the Strand and stopped in front of Charing Cross Hotel. Kaito… wasn’t there. The foot traffic was sparse so late at night but Shinichi still felt awkward standing around outside the hotel with no purpose. He wasn’t sure how to feel when his phone rang.

“Kaito?”

“Hey, Shinichi,” Kaito replied, and his voice was a little hushed – just enough to make Shinichi suspicious.

“What’s going on?”

Kaito breathed out a laugh. “Shh, nothing to worry about – all part of tonight’s plan. I just needed a little more time for this one, to get things ready.”

“Heh. Right, of course.” Shinichi turned and looked up at the building behind him. “I mean, this is cool and all, but it’s not really a climactic end to the night. Seemed unlike you.”

“Mm,” Kaito agreed, and Shinichi could hear the smirk on his lips. “Come and find me, Tantei-kun. Just one more for you to solve. Check your inner pocket and the left side planter. Make me proud~”

Shinichi pulled the phone away from his ear when the call cut off. He slipped it back into his coat pocket then checked the inside pocket of his blazer. There he found a thin leather roll that he immediately recognized as lock-picking tools, no doubt slipped in sometime during dinner. He was slightly alarmed until he checked the planter. There, just on the rim under the miniature evergreen, was a translucent padlock, a bit smaller than his palm.

“Okay…” Shinichi took the picks and the lock over to a short set of stone steps near the entrance to the hotel. He sat down and turned the padlock over in his hand in the light of the lamp directly above. _He obviously wants me to unlock this, _he thought. _But… it’s not like it’s attached to anything. It’s not holding anything closed, so what will that tell me? _He unrolled the leather kit anyway and selected a tensioner and a pick, then set to work on the lock. He realized the method of the message almost immediately.

“Oh, you clever bastard,” Shinichi whispered. As he wiggled the pick, the six pins inside the lock moved up and down and he could see tiny letters and numbers inscribed on each one. “So when I get them to line up – when the lock opens – I’ll be able to read the message,” he muttered to himself, and set his mind fully to the task of springing the lock.

It didn’t take him long. The hardest part, he found, was getting the lock to hold still while he worked on it. He had the top squeezed awkwardly between his knees, the tensioner pinched tight in his left hand and the pick moving methodically in his right until the pins finally aligned. The top popped loose from the transparent casing and he brought the lock up close to his eyes. The pins read “221B”, with the first and last pins lining up on blank spaces.

“What?” he breathed into the chilled air.

Baker Street was a ways away now, and Shinichi considered Kaito’s phone call. _He wanted a little time? But we were already there, and it’s all closed by now. What… is he doing?_

His heart was racing and he tried not to think too hard about what he might find as he headed back to Baker Street. There were some fantasies building in his subconscious that he was embarrassed to even consider.

It was close to midnight when Shinichi arrived to find Kaito standing on the stoop of 221B. He was dressed in all black now, a shadow leaning against the door with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.

“Congratulations,” he purred as Shinichi approached.

“KID,” Shinichi said, playing at composure and not fooling himself in the slightest. “What are we doing here?”

“Giving you a _proper _look around.” KID reached back and opened the door. “What do you say, Meitantei?”

Shinichi swallowed hard. There was only one possible answer to that offer.

KID led Shinichi inside and shut the door before guiding him up the narrow stairwell. Shinichi paused in the doorway of the sitting room. It had been subtly rearranged, the tourist precautions and signage all gone now, leaving only a devastatingly realistic representation of Holmes’ study. The curtains were closed, the light from the wall sconces and fireplace casting a warm glow over old furniture, medicine bottles, and books. Shinichi let out a shaky breath and moved toward the chair by the fire.

“You all right?” KID asked. He was leaning against the chair opposite with his arms crossed, a knowing smirk playing across his lips under the shadow of his cap.

“Am I?” Shinichi replied on a laugh. “I don’t know.”

KID just took a seat and gestured for Shinichi to do the same. He did, sinking into the chair and gripping the armrests.

“I’ve been here before,” Shinichi started slowly. “Heh. Locked in a virtual reality simulation with a pack of kids and Ran. Still somehow… stuck as Conan, even without my physical body as a factor. We sat in this study and theorized about Jack the Ripper. Then I came here for the first time in real life but I was _still _Conan. And still lying to Ran.” He pushed out a sigh as if he could expel that memory. That feeling. “And then,” he went on. “Earlier today. We walked through this exact room. This literal same spot. And none of it… None of it even comes _close _to this moment and I know exactly why, but…” He looked up, finding the glint of firelight in KID’s eyes and meeting it. “I just never even imagined this.” He ran a hand through his hair then brought his fingertips together in front of him, steepling them without really realizing what he was doing as he hunched a little in the chair and took a steadying breath.

“It’s not like you to get so emotional, Meitantei,” KID said.

“But it is though,” Shinichi replied too quickly and KID blinked back at him, bemused. “I’m _not _like Holmes. I know that. And I don’t want to be. He’s my role model, but he’s not a mold I intend to force myself into. I’ll be the best,” he continued, bright fire and force in his voice. “But I’ll do it, emotions and all. Because there are people I love, and that’s important to me.”

His eyes were still locked on KID, intense and penetrating, but even so, he missed the moment KID moved. He was suddenly on one knee on the floor just in front of Shinichi’s chair, the cap gone and Shinichi’s hand folded gently between his own as he peered up into Shinichi’s eyes. Shinichi felt his breath catch again.

“There’s something… I need to say,” Kaito said, quiet and earnest, and Shinichi’s heart was beating so hard it almost hurt. “Something I brought you here to say.” He lifted Shinichi’s hand to his lips, touching a lingering, gentle kiss against his skin, then took a deep, quiet breath.

“I need you, Shinichi. Being without you – _losing _you – hurts, and I’ve already known that pain too many times.” He found Shinichi’s eyes again, held them surely in the warm light. “I want to be your problem and your work. I want to give you your most abstruse cryptograms and your most intricate analyses. I want to be the one to put you in your own proper atmosphere.”

Shinichi knew what was coming. He knew, and it made no sense at all to be this taken by it, his pulse thrumming in his ears with how fast his heart was racing. But that was what KID did to him – what Kaito could always do to him, anytime, with just a touch or a word or a glance.

“And so, Kudou Shinichi,” Kaito continued. “I’m asking you again, and officially. Will you marry me?”

Shinichi’s breath left him in a rush. He turned his hand, catching hold of Kaito’s and clutching it as though it could steady his whole world. And it did.

“You know, this is essentially the third time you’ve proposed,” Shinichi said, and his voice was strong and fond. “I’m starting to think you might want to marry me or something.”

“What was your _first _clue?” Kaito laughed.

“A code,” Shinichi answered. “A code etched into a clock face.” He stood, pulling Kaito up with him, and slipped an arm around his waist while he kept his hold of Kaito’s hand. “And as many times as you ask, Kaito, I’ll keep saying yes.”

Shinichi surged forward and it was warm, so warm, standing beside the fire and wrapped up in the ensuing kiss, bodies held close, hands linked tight, hot breath hardly escaping as they pulled into each other as much as possible. Shinichi wanted to etch every second into his mind.

“But,” he panted as their lips came apart, desperate for more air than either had allowed. “But I don’t think you’ll be able to top this one,” he said. His tongue curled over the edge of his smirk briefly, eyes never leaving KID’s. “So maybe quit while you’re ahead.”

“Mm,” KID murmured, thoughtful. “You know, I’ve stolen a clock tower and a cruise ship. I’ve stolen a magical life-granting gem that might not even exist. I have _resources_, Meitantei, but _this_ you think I can’t top.”

“If you thought you could, you would have. You know me a little too well.”

“No such thing as knowing you too well,” KID replied softly.

“And your ‘resources’, by the way,” Shinichi added. “How many of those were involved in the making of this little adventure? I don’t suppose you actually cleared _this _with anyone, did you?”

“No,” KID chuckled. “This is very illegal– _mmh!_”

Shinichi was kissing him again, aggressively, but his movements were methodical as he guided them around the small table between the chairs and over to the chaise lounge against the wall opposite the fireplace. He shoved Kaito down onto it, and so much creaking of old wood told him that the only reason he hadn’t broken anything was because Kaito had controlled the fall. Shinichi just descended on him again, holding Kaito’s shoulders against the faded velvet and tucking his knee beside Kaito’s hip as he bit into his lip.

“If anyone asks,” Shinichi said between nips and kisses and breaths. “You proposed at Simpson’s.”

Kaito laughed under him. “I proposed curled up with you on the floor of a pitch-black sub-basement.” He sucked on Shinichi’s upper lip. “I proposed again lying in bed at your house.” He slid his tongue along Shinichi’s teeth. “Just how many proposals do you want, Meitantei?”

“All of them,” Shinichi responded, not really thinking, not really caring. Kaito’s hands were in his hair, his mouth pulling on Shinichi’s every moment it was within reach. Shinichi’s tongue flicked out again as he sucked in a breath. “How far are we from our place?”

“Mm… Less than an hour?”

“An _hour_?”

“I have the stealth glider if you would prefer. If I carried you, we’d be back in no time.”

Shinichi blinked down at him. “…Yes. Do it, I don’t even care. Let’s go.”

“What, seriously?” Kaito asked, wide-eyed.

“Did I stutter?”

“Heh. All right then, if you’re ready to leave here so soon.”

“Kaito.” Shinichi shifted, allowing Kaito to sit up against the backing of the lounge before settling himself heavily in Kaito’s lap. “We’re here – here in this room, here in England, _here_ – because I made up my mind to follow you around the world, anywhere. You said you would be the one to put me in my own proper atmosphere. You already know it doesn’t matter where we are.” He kissed him again, sweet this time, and gentle. “Let’s go home.”

KID grinned up at him. “Anything you want, Meitantei. Let’s go.”

The first quiet minutes of Christmas morning found Shinichi and KID sailing over London, Shinichi cradled in KID’s arms and the scarf Kaito had been wearing earlier tucked around Shinichi’s neck. The city lights and Christmas lights below them glimmered by, reflecting in the Thames in the distance.

“It’s sort of like Lyon,” Shinichi murmured, and his face was surely only so flushed because of the nip of the night wind above the city. “Did you plan that, too?”

“Coincidence,” KID admitted. “But a nice one. Didn’t think you’d ever really agree to let me fly you back.”

“Yeah, well,” Shinichi strained upward to get his lips onto KID’s neck. “I’ve still got one more thing planned for this date tonight. And I’m kind of eager to get to it.”

They were almost stumbling in their rush to make it through the door of their little flat. Kaito picked the lock just to funnel some energy then pushed inside, smacking at the light switch. Shinichi shoved the door shut behind them, locked and bolted it, then turned the lights back off.

Kaito’s laugh barely had a chance to escape, caught suddenly between their mouths. Shinichi’s forehead bumped against the black baseball cap but he just pushed in harder, skewing it on Kaito’s head. It was another stumbling rush to the bed and Shinichi shoved Kaito down onto it. The hat tumbled free.

“I want top tonight,” Shinichi breathed out. He crawled onto the mattress over Kaito and dipped down for a short, quick kiss. “Don’t care who receives, or if you wanna skip that part tonight–”

“I want receive,” Kaito cut in.

“You sure–”

“Definitely.”

“All right, twist my arm,” Shinichi chuckled, and his hands were already sliding under Kaito’s shirt. Kaito raised his arms to let Shinichi tug it off but his gloves caught in the cuffs of the long sleeves before they could pull free and he ended up tangled, his arms above his head and his hands twisted up in the black shirt. Shinichi either didn’t notice or didn’t care because he abandoned his efforts in favor of taking Kaito’s lips again in a languid kiss.

“W-Wait, wait just a second,” Kaito mumbled into it, and Shinichi eased back. “I’m half naked already and you are literally bundled up. I do not call this fair play.”

“Hm.” Shinichi peered down at him, considering, then removed the scarf around his own neck only to loop it around Kaito’s. He let an appreciative hand trail over the soft plaid against Kaito’s bare chest and nodded. “You’re right. Much better.”

“Hilarious,” Kaito drawled. He’d gotten his hands free at some point, leaving his gloves tangled in the sleeves of the shirt which had been tossed away somewhere. He gripped into the shoulders of Shinichi’s pea coat and pulled himself up a little from the mattress. Their noses bumped. “Come on, you need a coat in bed?” he purred. “Am I not hot enough for you?”

Shinichi let out a surprised laugh and pushed Kaito back down. Then he buried his face in the scarf and against Kaito’s neck. “Mm. I’ve wanted to do that since this morning,” he mumbled.

“You what?” Kaito laughed back. “Is this some kind of kink I didn’t know about? If you like scarves you _really _should have said something sooner. I _am _a magician you know.”

“It’s a nice color, that’s all,” Shinichi said haughtily, but then he got up and unbuttoned his coat, letting it slide off his shoulders and onto the floor. He toed out of his shoes and Kaito kicked his own off as well, his feet still dangling off the end of the bed. Then Shinichi was on him again.

“So… I’ve been meaning… to ask…” Shinichi said between grasping kisses and suckling bites along Kaito’s jaw. “The quote you used for your proposal…” He tugged the scarf free and pushed it out of the way so he could run his tongue across Kaito’s skin. “You know Holmes was on cocaine when he said that, right?”

Kaito’s hands were insistently tugging at the button of Shinichi’s blazer even while his head tipped back, eyes closed as Shinichi ravished him. “I _know _I’ve told you not to talk about Holmes when we’re in bed,” he breathed out. The button finally came free but Shinichi, it seemed, was feeling uncooperative. Kaito tried to push the blazer off of Shinichi’s shoulders, but Shinichi’s hands were planted on the bed on either side of Kaito and there wasn’t enough give.

“And you still asked me to marry you,” Shinichi pointed out. “Three times, now.” He sat back on his heels, deliberately settling his weight over Kaito’s hips.

“H-How did that English vow go again?” Kaito asked. Shinichi could hear the restrained moan in the shift of his pitch.

“‘For better or worse’?” Shinichi answered with a smirk, and he ground down, pressing Kaito into the mattress. His hands smoothed across Kaito’s skin, from his stomach up to his chest then settling on his shoulders as he leaned in and stole a long kiss.

“Definitely worse,” Kaito panted under him at the next opportunity. “Just… the worst.”

“You’re horrible.”

“But you keep coming back for more~”

Shinichi cocked an eyebrow at him. “Horrible and addictive are not mutually exclusive characteristics.”

“Okay, I’m clearly not doing my part if you’re still this coherent. And this dressed.”

A smoke bomb went off and Shinichi’s eyes flinched closed. When he opened them again Kaito had done far more than even them out – he’d stripped Shinichi down to nothing.

Shinichi blinked down at himself, shrugged, and got right back to devastating Kaito’s higher brain functions.

“You’re kind of beautiful.”

Kaito eased open tired eyes to find Shinichi in the dark. He was lying on his side next to Kaito, propping himself up on an elbow and looking him over with a purely happy little smile. Kaito closed his eyes again, not moving from where he was laid out on his back, spent and exhausted and thoroughly satisfied.

“You only say that when I’m wrecked,” he replied with a grin.

“I only say it when _I’m _wrecked,” Shinichi countered. “There just tends to be an overlap. It’s not a…” He waved his hand vaguely.

“Causality?”

“Mm.”

It took them another several minutes to finally drag themselves into the shower, and they ignored the spread of discarded clothes and somewhat soiled sheet scattered around the floor when they crawled back into bed perfectly naked.

“So how’d I do?” Kaito yawned against Shinichi’s shoulder. “Was it a good date?”

“It was okay,” Shinichi said, smirking in the darkness. “As far as fantasy-fulfilling Christmas Eve London marriage proposal riddle quest dates go. Pretty good.”

“Well, I considered taking you to Hay-on-Wye but it’s pretty far out of the way. Would have taken up way too much time. C’est la vie.”

“What’s Hay-on-Wye?”

“It’s called the Town of Books.”

Shinichi was quiet for a stretch, then, “Well we’ve still got a little time in England.”

“We are so bad at this!” Kaito laughed out, and his breath was warm against Shinichi’s chest. “We really shouldn’t have left all our sightseeing to the last minute.”

Shinichi’s hand rubbed across Kaito’s back, slow and repetitive, and Kaito yawned again.

“I can’t believe it’s almost New Year’s,” Shinichi sighed. “And then we’ll be heading to Amsterdam.”

“Heh. Better not take any cases around here that you can’t solve quickly then, Meitantei.”

“Please,” Shinichi scoffed. His hand paused though and Kaito eased opened his eyes, not entirely sure of when they had closed. “Actually,” Shinichi murmured. “I was thinking about that diamond.”

Kaito tensed a little before he could stop himself. “The Koh-i-Noor?” he asked.

“Mm. What would you do… if one of the Crown Jewels turned out to be Pandora?”

Kaito didn’t answer right away. Restless, he rolled away from Shinichi to lie on his back, staring up at the dark ceiling. “I’m not sure,” he finally admitted. “But… I’ve considered not doing anything at all.”

Shinichi rolled over too, propping himself on his side to watch Kaito’s face in the dark as he continued.

“No one should be looking for it anymore. _They _think it’s been destroyed already, you know? And the Crown Jewels are some of the most well protected jewels in the world. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I would feel better destroying it, but that wouldn’t be simple or easy. _Someone _would get hurt.”

“Are you sure you’d want to know then?” Shinichi asked. Kaito gave him a questioning glance out of the corner of his eye. “I mean, if you knew, you’d just worry about it. If you’d leave it anyway maybe it’s better not knowing.”

Kaito was quiet again for a while, but then he let out a frustrated and explosive sigh, almost a growl. “I know all that already,” he complained. “And I pretty much already decided not to go and check. Still coming to terms with it, okay? Why do you have to be one step ahead?”

Shinichi didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until it left him in a sigh as well, quiet and relieved. “It’s just a detective’s nature,” he answered with a smile. “Can’t help it.” He flopped onto his back again and let his eyes close. It wasn’t long at all before Kaito returned to his side, fitting himself close along the line of Shinichi’s body and resting his head on Shinichi’s shoulder, one arm draped across Shinichi’s stomach.

“Is there anything else bothering you?” Kaito asked.

“No. That was it.”

“Good. Merry Christmas, Shinichi.”

Shinichi ducked his head to nuzzle a kiss into Kaito’s damp hair. “Merry Christmas, Kaito. And thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter alone is what made writing this fic take twice as long as I'd thought it would >.< And continuing that tradition, just _posting_ the damn thing took twice as long as I thought it would, due to technical difficulties with the imbedded picture :P
> 
> Some trivia!
> 
> The riddle referring to Big Ben hints at the clock tower’s official name: Elizabeth Tower, so named to celebrate the “Diamond Jubilee” of Elizabeth II (her sixtieth anniversary as queen).
> 
> The lyrics of the nursery rhyme “Seven Baby Crows” talk about seven good children up on a mountain. The “six above” in Kaito’s riddle refers to the six ravens that must always reside at the Tower of London according to tradition, the superstition being that if the ravens ever abandoned the tower, the kingdom would fall. The “one below” refers to Brân the Blessed, whose name translates to raven or crow, and whose head was buried beneath the site of the Tower of London, facing France, so as to warn off those who might invade. The “precious 140” refers to the 140 objects in which the crown jewels are set.
> 
> Holmes and Watson dine at Simpson’s in the Strand in two stories: The Adventure of the Dying Detective (one of my favorites as far as Sherlock Holmes stories go) and The Adventure of the Illustrious Client. In the latter, Holmes and Watson are seated at a window table “looking down at the rushing stream of life in the Strand”. 
> 
> The (adapted) quote Kaito uses for his (third) proposal is from chapter one of The Sign of Four, which, of course, is Shinichi’s favorite Sherlock story.


	3. Chapter 3

_London, England_

_ Early January_

Shinichi was not without sympathy for anyone who had to be on the same plane as the Hopper Magic Troupe. They hadn’t boarded yet, but the troupe and a smattering of family that usually tagged along during tours were gathered in the waiting area of the gate, boisterous and chatty as ever.

_At least no one will be pulling any magic tricks, _Shinichi thought, watching a father tug his child in the opposite direction. _They wouldn’t risk giving the troupe a bad reputation with any airlines when flying’s the only viable option. _The troupe’s animals, though they were all small and well-behaved, were too numerous for the train or bus line policies to allow.

Shinichi watched the troupe over the edge of Kaito’s tablet. He’d downloaded his father’s latest novel in case he was actually awake for any of the short flight, but observing the troupe outside of the usual darkened theatre and show setting had rather stolen his attention.

There were a few members of the troupe that were _not _the boisterous and chatty sort, now that he looked again. Lili’s partner Miguel was sitting close by his wife, the two of them looking at a phone and smiling quietly as they flicked through something. Shinichi pegged them as newlyweds. Ahadi Mazrui, the troupe’s current opening act, and Phan Thị Khiêm, the lighting manager, seemed to be fastidiously ignoring everyone. They were both wearing headphones, Ahadi just sitting with her eyes closed and Khiêm flipping through a magazine. Shinichi wondered if it was enough to drown out the impossibly noisy game of Old Maid that Lili was playing with Beatrix Clark (the troupe’s set master), Thijs de Haan (the prop master), and West. No matter how he looked at it, it really was a family.

“Hey.”

Shinichi’s eyes automatically tracked over toward the sound of Kaito’s voice. He was sitting a few seats away, watching the card game with Katie Elliot, the new manager in training under Roberto.

“Kitty, have you seen Mr. Fanucci?” he asked her.

Katie shook her head, tufts of orange hair bouncing. “Av no seen Nat in a while either.”

“I think she went to find alcohol,” West put in with a fond rolling of eyes. Then he wiggled his fingers at Beatrix. “You will give me an ace!” he said in a wavery voice.

Bea rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, you have hypnotized me. I am certain to do as you say. Except… _you’re _the one picking the card, mate.”

“Ah, yes, of course.” West plucked a card from her hand and added it to his own. Shinichi raised a suspicious eyebrow when Lili then immediately made to pick from West’s hand. Apparently _someone _had an ace, but it wasn’t West if Shinichi had to guess.

“Anyway, Mr. Fanucci might have gone with Nat,” Lili said. “Probably wanted to take the edge off. He hates flying or something – always gets weird at airports.”

They all paused and looked up at the sound of overhead speakers clicking on.

_“Attention: All flights are currently experiencing delays due to a fire on the runways. We thank you for your patience.” _

The speakers clicked again and about half of the people at the gate made for the windows, including half of the troupe. Kaito and Shinichi met each other’s eyes.

“Man, I’m never gonna get used to that,” West said, shrugging off the news and perusing the cards in his hand. “They really don’t beat around the bush over here. Like, they actually have readymade _signs_ for the trains that say, ‘Oh, sorry for the delay, we ran someone over!’”

Bea reached over and flicked the tip of his nose, apparently offended as a London native by West’s horrible attempt at an English accent. Shinichi couldn’t blame her. “They do _not_ say that!” she insisted.

“Fine. Due to ‘person under the train’,” West amended with copious finger quotes. “Still nuts.”

“Just because everyone here isn’t three seconds away from _suing_ somebody like you Americans–”

Kaito and Shinichi were already on their feet, leaving the teasing argument behind as they went for the windows as well. There was indeed smoke catching on the wind, just starting to spread up into the sky. From the concentration of it, it seemed the fire was close, and large.

“Aw shit, did _our _plane catch fire?”

Kaito and Shinichi turned at the familiar voice. Nadette (Nat) Kaspar, troupe ventriloquist, had returned with Giorgio just behind. There were also people in security uniforms heading their way.

“Attention, everyone,” one of them called above the excited chatter. “We need to evacuate this area. Please come back this way and we’ll get this taken care of–”

A _boom _like a physical wave erupted from the runway, enough to crack the windows and set everyone ducking and screaming. Even as Shinichi and Kaito turned as one to cover Giorgio and Nadette, hot orange light flared outside, mixed sinuously with thick black smoke. Shattered pieces of airplane hull went rushing past the windows.

It was immediate chaos. People were running, staggering, falling over each other. The windows shook with the roar of too-close flames and one of them shattered completely not far from where Kaito, Shinichi, Nadette, and Giorgio were huddled on the ground.

“Come on, get up!” Kaito shouted over the noise. He and Shinichi hauled a shaky Nadette and a rumpled Giorgio to their feet and hurried them away from the windows toward where security was waving people out of the gate. Shinichi stopped halfway and Kaito halted a moment later, letting Nadette and Giorgio run ahead.

“I have to–”

“I know,” Kaito said. “I’ll make sure everyone is clear. Go find out what happened.” He darted back to Shinichi, KID-quick, and snatched a fleeting kiss. “Be careful.”

Shinichi gave a tight nod. Then he was gone, twisting against the tide of people to make his way back toward the boarding area.

Whether he would admit it or not, Shinichi was very lucky that Hakuba had booked a flight to France for that same morning from that same airport. He turned up on the crime scene only minutes after Shinichi did and immediately hauled Shinichi aside with a firm grip on his jacket sleeve.

“Do you know what happened?” he hissed in very hushed Japanese.

“No clue,” Shinichi replied. Hakuba seemed to deflate.

“Fine then. We will figure it out, but you _must _stay by my side, Kudou-kun. I do not wish to see you arrested here.”

Shinichi narrowed his eyes, pinched Hakuba’s cheek (which got him an eye roll), then said, “Stay by your side as a key witness? Or as a suspect?”

“Let us hope we do not need to label it. Japan’s National Central Bureau has gotten me clearance with Interpol _only _because I have dual citizenship, am a member of the Organization Task Force, and because airport jurisdiction is arguable anyway. If we solve this quickly, there will not be any reason to question your presence.”

“The NCB cleared you?” He left the _you’re still a rookie cop _and _you’ve only been on the Organization Task Force for a few months _unspoken, but it was clear enough in his tone of surprise.

Hakuba smiled but there was a slightly bitter twist to it. “I am only here because I am on my way to Lyon on Task Force business. But if I am being honest, we are both on thin ice right now, so please do not do anything to break it.”

“You have the authority to remove me,” Shinichi said carefully.

“Yes. But, while I do not consider you a suspect, I do believe _your_ plane blowing up was not a coincidence. So perhaps I do consider you a key witness.”

Shinichi smirked, and _relaxed _of all things, and Hakuba actually pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt worry curl up in his chest again.

“Well, I personally know most of the passengers who were going to be on that plane. Of those, I’m the most likely target. But we can’t say for sure until we take a look at the rest of the passenger list.”

“I already emailed it to you,” Hakuba said, resigned.

“Oh, great. Thanks.” Shinichi pulled out his phone and Hakuba did the same. They both began scrolling through names, making mental notes of seat numbers and ticket groups. With minimal discussion, they divided the ones they would need to run searches on.

“So,” Hakuba murmured as they worked, eyes locked on his screen. “We _are _in agreement that this was no accident, yes?”

Shinichi scoffed. They were already this far in – why ask now? “That was no fuel explosion,” he said anyway. “There was definitely a bomb on that plane.”

“But were they trying to make it _look _like a fuel explosion or accident?”

“They would have to be major amateurs to not know we’d find the residue and debris from the bomb.” His finger paused above his phone screen as he considered that. Hakuba spoke his thoughts.

“A ‘major amateur’ would not have been able to get a bomb through airport security and into a plane.”

“So then what’s with the runway fire?” Shinichi sighed, going back to his search. “Just bad luck?”

“Or good luck, as the case may be,” Hakuba said, and his tone was innocent enough but Shinichi didn’t miss the look he was giving him out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey, I’m _glad _we weren’t onboard. But it doesn’t make sense. There’s no way this thing was meant to go off on the ground.”

“They never are,” Hakuba agreed grimly. “And even if the fire had not set off the bomb, it was sure to cause an evacuation, and probably an inspection of the plane and equipment for damage afterwards. The bomb could have been discovered then.”

“Was the fire a distraction somehow?” Shinichi muttered.

“A distraction from what?”

“I don’t know.”

The investigation was _not _resolved quickly. Shinichi and Hakuba had set up camp with their laptops (thankfully packed in their carry-ons rather than in pieces on the tarmac or on the way to France with the rest of their respective luggage). They continued to mull over data as forensics reported it, but nothing they received was unexpected.

The bomb had indeed been onboard, and had been wired into the plane’s computers, most likely set to detonate upon reaching a certain altitude. No one scheduled to be on that flight – including the pilots and attendants – showed any signs of being a target. The flight path did not present any obvious targets, nor did the final destination.

“It seems completely random,” Hakuba finally muttered. He tapped a finger against the paper coffee cup next to his keyboard.

“Random except for me,” Shinichi replied.

“Well, yes. But do you really think _they _are behind th–”

“Can we get security footage?” Shinichi cut in solidly. “With nothing else to go on, we’ll have to see if we can piece something together from that. A gap, or an anomaly…”

Hakuba watched as Shinichi continued to click and skip and scroll through data, intent on his screen. He let out a sigh. “Yes. I will request it.”

Kaito tossed and turned, alone in the bed at his and Shinichi’s next home-away-from-home in Amsterdam. After all the chaos and bustle and inspections and police dogs, the troupe had finally been placed on another plane and had made their way to the Netherlands. Shinichi had stayed behind.

It hadn’t been an easy decision for either of them, but Shinichi was leaving no stone unturned in this case and neither of them felt comfortable leaving the troupe on their own after such a close call. Kaito was forced to take comfort in the fact of Hakuba’s enduring presence and in Shinichi’s promises that he’d be along soon.

Kaito pushed out a heavy sigh in the dark and heard a comforting collective coo in answer from under the bed. His doves were huddled together there, keeping near to him while staying out from underfoot. They’d been lucky, as usual. Something had caused a delay in loading them onto the plane. They’d still been on the runway when the fire had broken out, and they’d picked their locks and the locks for all the other animals as well, escaping before the bomb had ignited.

Kaito rolled over again when his phone buzzed with a text from Shinichi.

_“How’s everyone doing?”_

He smiled a little and texted back, _“They took it all surprisingly well.” _He considered that then added, _“I guess it’s not as bad as when Snake… yeah.” _He rubbed at his eyes and sat up, giving up on sleep. _“Anyway, they seem fine, but it’s a lot of poker faces around here, so just have to hope they really are all as fine as they’re acting.”_

_“They’ll be okay.”_

_“How’s the investigation?” _Kaito tapped out.

The delay in answer was long enough that Kaito prompted again, _“Shinichi?”_

_“I shot Hakuba with the watch.”_

Kaito blinked down at the screen. This… probably wasn’t funny, right? Probably inappropriate to ask for a picture. _“Why?” _he texted back.

_“I must have dozed off and he nudged me awake. It startled me, I guess.”_

Startled. Because Shinichi wouldn’t type out the word “scared”. No, this definitely wasn’t funny. _“Do you want me to fly back?”_

_“Don’t be stupid.”_

Kaito waited, chewing on the inside of his lip, hoping something more would be forthcoming. It was, eventually.

_“We’ve just about run dry on things to investigate anyway. There’s nothing, Kaito. We’ve got nothing.”_

Kaito knew what remained unspoken. It had _them _written all over it. _“No one was hurt,” _Kaito texted back. _“Just come home.”_

The pause then was mercifully short. _“Yeah. I’ll get the first flight in the morning. Love you.”_

“You drugged me.”

“It was an accident.”

“I should have that thing confiscated. How did you even get that past securi– No, never mind, do not tell me. The less I know, the better. Which is not something I ever imagined I would say, once.”

“I’m sorry, Hakuba-kun.”

“Then please, _please_, do something about it. You cannot just move to another country and pretend everything is fine now. It is clearly not.”

The call for Hakuba’s new flight to France sounded on the overhead speakers and Hakuba let out a sigh. “I have to leave. I hope you are able to find what you need, Kudou-kun. I want to work with you again, without the subterfuge. It is not too late for you to join a force – _any _force – if you are able to sort this out. I know it will not be easy, but you have so many friends who are willing to help.” He didn’t reach out but Shinichi could read in his posture that he wanted to. But he was keeping his distance, aware of the awkward position he had put himself in – a teller of hard truths to someone who knew them all too well. He was standing there telling someone with paranoia to ‘sort it out’ while that person was still being hunted by parties unknown.

Hakuba was surprised when Shinichi held out his hand. Hakuba took it hesitantly. “I know,” was all Shinichi said, but it was solid and sure. It shouldn’t have made Hakuba feel any better, but it did. He wondered vaguely if he’d developed a habit of believing Shinichi’s lies as much as Kaito’s.

They parted ways at Hakuba’s gate and Shinichi went to wait at his own. Neither noticed the woman mixed in amongst the airport travelers sneaking pictures of them both on her phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have a strong tendency to write defensively and I think that works to my detriment a lot. Things get clunky while I strain to answer questions nobody asked. I was tempted to do this with Hakuba’s coincidental flight in this chapter. I _wanted_ to cram in that it was the end of the holiday season, and there aren’t all that many airports to choose from, and Hakuba just prefers flying over ground transport, but dammit it boils down to the same thing so I made myself leave it as is during the beta process. (But I couldn’t stop defensive!DS from writing this author note and thereby calling attention to something possibly no one gave a thought to anyway.) HOORAY.


	4. Chapter 4

_Amsterdam, Netherlands_

_January_

*

“He’s headed your way,” Bishop said. “You can’t just ignore him.”

“I’m not. I’m going to call Chartreuse to keep an eye on his movements while I follow zhat person’s orders. You’re insane to act on your own like you did.”

“Every one of you is a superstitious fool. ‘Silver Bullet’ my ass. If no one else is willing to take care of this, I’ll see to it I get another chance myself.”

Bishop tapped out of the call screen and the contacts list came back into view. A flick sent the list scrolling back up from the J’s to the C’s. A new call rang through.

“Chartreuse, you’re about to get a new surveillance request. Here’s what I need you to do, love…”

*

Shinichi continued to take email cases through the website, but for the first week in Amsterdam he hardly left their rooms.

“Hey, Shinichi,” Kaito said over breakfast after that first week. “Can you come to the show tonight? We’re partnering with this Dutch magician and I’m _dying _to meet her. I’m gonna need a non-magician to gush to afterwards, and it loses effect if you’ve never seen her work.”

Shinichi rolled his eyes. “That is the weakest excuse for getting me to go out that I’ve heard in a long time.”

Kaito reached across the little table and flicked Shinichi’s nose. “Weak it may be, but it has the added bonus of being both timely and true. Come on, Shinichi. We’ve only got a month in the Netherlands. Don’t spend it all sitting in front of your laptop. Aren’t there any cases around here you can take?”

“It’s not that.”

Kaito waited for him to elaborate but Shinichi just picked at the bread on his plate, his eyes distant.

“Well, anyway,” Kaito sighed. “I _do _want you to come to tonight’s show. So will you?”

He looked up and smiled at Kaito. “Yeah, of course.”

Roos Willemsen was a _master _of optical illusions. Her trademark was her emerald green magician’s wand which she used to silently direct the attention of her audience as she ran the stage with all manner of light tricks, vanishing items, levitations, and mysterious reappearances. There were actual smoke and mirrors and Shinichi still couldn’t find anything to criticize. He was too busy being awed.

He lingered at the back of the house seats afterward, thanks to Roberto who was putting Katie to the test managing the after-show bustle on her own and who was willing to wait with Shinichi so that he wouldn’t be kicked out.

“Hey,” Shinichi said. He gave a subtle nod toward the stage where a man had just emerged from between the curtains. “Do you know that guy? I haven’t seen him before.”

“Ah, that’s James Molenaar. Ms. Willemsen is a solo act but she does have a manager. That’s him.”

Shinichi immediately relaxed. Roberto smiled but didn’t comment. Then they saw Kaito slip out from backstage.

“Excuse me,” Kaito said. “You’re Mr. Molenaar, right? Um, sorry, is English okay?”

“Ah, yes, hallo. You are vith Ms. Hopper’s troupe?”

“Yeah,” Kaito breathed out on a laugh. His hand went to the back of his head, running through his hair self-consciously. Shinichi, watching from too far off to hear, raised his eyebrows. Kaito actually seemed _nervous_. “I was wondering… Would you mind teaching me how to sign ‘It’s an honor to meet you’?”

James was suddenly grinning. “Yes, of course.”

Backstage, Kaito took in a deep breath and let it out silently. Roos was kneeling beside a trunk in her floor length dress, packing up her things. People seemed to be giving her a bit of a wide berth. Kaito’s first instinct was to say something to get her attention, but Roos was deaf. Tapping her on the shoulder or crouching down next to her out of nowhere seemed too presumptuous, so instead Kaito waited awkwardly for her to finish with her things. Then, when she stood and turned from the trunk, he waved hello, feeling like an idiot.

Roos blinked blankly at Kaito then turned to look behind her for the person he was waving to and Kaito kind of wanted to run away. Instead he took another silent breath and carefully spelled out the signs James had taught him. Roos seemed to light up then and she signed something back, her hands just as quick and skilled as they’d been onstage. Kaito’s helplessness must have shown on his face because her expression changed then, softening, and she signed something else that Kaito didn’t know but which gave him the general impression of “Wait a sec.” She dug into the purse that had been sitting beside the trunk and pulled out a phone. The long white gloves of her show outfit got stuffed into the purse instead. Then she tapped something onto the phone and held it up to Kaito.

_“Hopper troupe? English?”_

Kaito grinned and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, just out of habit. He held up a finger. “Hang on a second.” He didn’t have his phone on him, but it was nearby. He dashed back to where Roos was waiting and showed her his screen.

_“My name is Kaito. I know yours already _:)_”_

Roos waved him closer and positioned herself next to him so they could see each other’s screens. _“I know communicating is difficult. Thank you for making the effort.”_

_“Absolutely my pleasure,” _Kaito answered.

It wasn’t long at all before they’d exchanged numbers, and once they’d helped each other finish packing up, they wound up sitting together on the edge of the stage, kicking their feet, exchanging texts, pulling little tricks, and, in Kaito’s case, learning a few more signs.

Shinichi was perfectly happy to stay in his seat in the far back of the house. The ushers had all gone home and Roberto had gone to check on Katie, so he’d pulled up a few more email cases on his phone. But now that Kaito was back on the stage he found it was far more interesting to watch him instead.

When they finally left late that night, Shinichi truly had a full appreciation for Kaito’s fanboy ranting.

*

“You know, I’m still surprised every time you _actually _get in touch.”

Shinichi groaned into the phone. “But you _know _why I disappeared before. I couldn’t help it.”

“Yeah, but you’re still you, Shinichi,” Ran said, unfazed. “You’ve always been like that. Stuff goes on in your head and you don’t realize no one else is tuned in to that special little station up there. Except maybe Kaito,” she added after a moment.

Shinichi sighed and Ran was apparently tuned in at least a little because her next words were, “Uh oh. What’s wrong. Did you and Kaito have a fight?”

“No, it’s not a fight,” Shinichi answered. “I’ve just been feeling… _off _ever since we came to Amsterdam.”

“Did they ever find the person who put that bomb on your plane?”

“No.”

Ran was the one sighing this time. “Well then I think feeling ‘off’ is a little understandable, Shinichi. Especially–”

Shinichi could easily tell from the clip of the last word and the way Ran fell silent after it that she was holding back the words, “especially after last summer,” and Shinichi suddenly needed to sit down. He did, dropping onto the edge of the bed, and he changed the subject with alacrity.

“It’s not that,” he insisted. “It’s just that Kaito is so in his element no matter where we go. I guess I’m a little jealous.”

“You’re not in your element?” Ran asked, and Shinichi found himself deflecting again.

“No, it’s just… I don’t like how separate our lives feel now. Kaito’s doing his magician thing and I’m doing my detective thing. It’s… well, it’s not like any of that is _new _but it’s never felt like this before.” _The entire time we’ve been together, we’d been working _together _on the Organization case._

“Why don’t you ask Kaito to teach you a magic trick?” Ran said, and it was so purely simple that Shinichi’s thoughts jumped their track. It was a welcome relief. “I’m sure he’d be thrilled to,” she added.

“That’s… Yeah. That’s a really good idea.”

“You’re welcome,” Ran said, and Shinichi could so clearly picture her doing her Sonoko pose – eye closed, nose in the air, hand on her hip – but then she giggled because this was Ran and she couldn’t help it and Shinichi’s heart ached to be so far away from her now.

“Thanks, Ran.”

It was a rare occasion when Kaito had a day off _and _Shinichi was willingly awake early enough to have breakfast with him. Kaito gleefully took the opportunity to introduce Shinichi to the wonder that was the stroopwafel. Shinichi had just taken a sip of his coffee and the moment he set the mug down Kaito slid the disc-shaped wafer on top. It fit perfectly, just barely bigger than the porcelain rim, and Shinichi gave it the same look one might give an unwelcome vegetable in one’s dessert.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s a stroopwafel. They’re _delicious_.”

Shinichi looked skeptical but he picked it up and went to take a bite.

“No, no, no, wait!” Kaito plucked it right out from between Shinichi’s fingers and balanced it atop his mug again. “They’re not as good cold. You’re supposed to leave it over your coffee for a little while to warm it up!”

Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him. “But what if I want to drink the coffee?”

“Can’t you just wait a couple minutes?”

“Definitely not.” He almost couldn’t hide the teasing smirk.

“Shinichiiiiii.”

“Fine, if you insist, but you better distract me. …Teach me a magic trick.”

“What?” Kaito chuckled, but Shinichi just looked expectant. “Wait, for real? Where’d that come from?”

“Ran, actually,” Shinichi admitted. “But I really do want you to teach me one. Magic’s a huge part of who you are but… I guess I feel kind of disconnected from it.”

“Aww, Shinichi~” Kaito propped both elbows on the table and cupped his face in his hands, fluttering his eyelashes at him. “Don’t tell me that’s why you’ve been so mopey.”

“Shut up.”

“Well, don’t worry. I am an _excellent _teacher.” He got up and came over to Shinichi’s side of the table, pulling Shinichi’s seat back and straddling him even as Shinichi scoffed his opinion of that claim. “How ‘bout a card trick? Great for beginners, and not really a protected secret kind of thing, hm?”

A deck of cards appeared in Kaito’s hand and he turned to sit sideways on Shinichi’s lap so he could reach the table. Shinichi’s arm came up without much thought, supporting Kaito’s back, and Kaito smiled as he shuffled the cards.

“I’ll show it to you first, and then show you how it’s done.” He continued shuffling and cutting then turned the cards over, fanning them out face up. “As you can see, the cards are in random order.” He folded them together again, shuffled a few more times, then set the deck on the table. “Go ahead and cut the deck in two, anywhere you’d like.” Shinichi did, making an uneven split and leaving the two stacks side by side. “Now,” Kaito said, clearly getting into it. “I’m going to predict what the third card in this stack is.” He tapped one of the piles twice with the tip of his finger. “But first, I need a bit help from my secret assistant~! She’s hiding right in here.” He picked up the other stack and held it facing himself as he pushed the first two cards aside. “Ah, here she is. What’s that?” He brought the card close to his ear. “She says the third card in the other stack is the three of diamonds. Let’s find out.” He set the first stack down and picked up the other. “One, two…” He flipped the third card. “Three,” he finished smugly, and set the three of diamonds down.

“Hm,” Shinichi said.

“What do you think? One more time?”

Kaito clearly wanted to do it again so Shinichi nodded him on with a little smile. Kaito combined the two stacks with a few quick riffle shuffles and asked Shinichi once more to split the deck.

“Just a moment now,” Kaito said. “Let me find my assistant.” He picked up one set and pushed through a few cards, then brought one up to his ear. “She says it’s the nine of spades this time.” Trading one stack for the other, he counted out three cards. The third one down was the nine of spades. “Got it?” Kaito asked.

“So the only things consistent between the two times you did it were having me cut the deck, checking a few of the cards in one set, and predicting the third card down in the other set,” Shinichi murmured. “The first time you’d shuffled a couple different ways, and showed me the cards beforehand. The second time, you’d only riffle shuffled, and you didn’t show me the cards.

“I don’t think it’s a slight of hand trick,” Shinichi continued. “I was watching both of your hands pretty carefully. So it must be a perception thing. What matters… is that it was the third card down from the top of the deck.”

“Mm hm,” Kaito hummed. He leaned into Shinichi and closed his eyes, nuzzling into Shinichi’s hair.

“Ah… Your ‘assistant’. It was the third card, too. You’d looked at the card, but didn’t let me see it. I bet that time it was the nine of spades.”

“Good.”

“So when you shuffled, you made sure to leave at least three cards on top. It hardly mattered where I cut the deck, as long as I left at least three cards on one side. Of course you’d know what the card was.”

“And the first time? I hadn’t picked an assistant yet, then.”

“No, but you got a look at all of the cards when you showed them to me. Including the third one down.”

“That’s right~ So, think you can do it?” Kaito straightened up and gathered the cards, offering them to Shinichi. Then he slipped off of Shinichi’s lap and took his own seat across the table again.

Shinichi let out a sigh. “All right. Here goes.”

It was a clumsy attempt at best. The cards slipped and slid under Shinichi’s fingers. Kaito tried not to giggle as Shinichi fanned them out to show them in random order, rather blatantly pausing to get a look at the third one. He had to start over twice when his shuffle got a little too thorough and the top few cards were lost in the mix. Eventually though, he managed to make it work.

“Ah, well done, Tantei-kun. But, uh, maybe don’t quit your day job.” Kaito was snickering and Shinichi couldn’t even blame him.

“That must have been like me watching old man Mouri try to solve a case. I am so sorry.”

“Ha, not at all. You’re very cute when you fail miserably.”

Shinichi tried to scowl at him but then Kaito was suddenly holding the stroopwafel out across the table, tempting him to take a bite, and he blinked down at it. The scent of warm cinnamon wafted up to him as he leaned in to take a taste. The wafer was warm and soft on one side from the steam of his coffee, but the other side was crisp. The flavors of the spiced caramel inside were rich and sweet and he found that Kaito was probably right to stop him from eating it cold. It would be a waste.

Shinichi licked a crumb from his lip. “I’m not one of your doves, you know,” he said stubbornly. “You can’t just teach me a trick and then reward me with food.”

“Evidently I can,” Kaito said, smirking. He took a bite of the stroopwafel then balanced it again on Shinichi’s mug. “But, if there’s some _other _reward you would prefer, I’m sure we could work something out.” He was already on his way around the table again, his movements predatory, and Shinichi pushed his chair back to let him in. Kaito straddled him again and slid his fingers into Shinichi’s hair. “Hm?”

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Shinichi muttered, and Kaito obliged almost before the last word made it out. Shinichi’s arms circled Kaito’s waist and he was out of breath by the time Kaito let him go. “If that’s what I get for making an absolute mess of it,” Shinichi gasped. “What do I get if I master the trick?”

“Heh.” Kaito leaned in and caught the shell of Shinichi’s ear gently between his teeth. His tongue flickered against it. “Anything you want.”

“Mm.”

Kaito touched a few soft kisses to the side of Shinichi’s head. “So, are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, actually. I am.”

“Wanna go to the Van Gogh Museum with me today? Wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Shinichi smiled. “Sounds good.”

Kaito stood and helped Shinichi to his feet. He picked up the stroopwafel again and broke it in half, offering part to Shinichi as he licked caramel from his own fingers. “Make sure you get a postcard for Ran, too,” he said.

“Heh. What would I do without you.”

“Face Ran’s wrath?”

“Yeah, let’s avoid that.”

Kaito took Shinichi’s hand and lifted it to his lips. “Guess I’m sticking around, then~”

That night, after they’d tucked themselves into bed, curled close together, Kaito whispered into the dark and quiet, “Are you okay?” He felt Shinichi go stiff and then release that tension in a sigh against Kaito’s shirt.

“You wouldn’t be asking if I was.”

“Mm,” Kaito agreed. “You still have nightmares. Do you remember them when you wake up?”

“Sometimes.”

“Tell me about them?”

Shinichi curled in tighter and shook his head. “Maybe later.”

“Sure.” Kaito’s fingers slid through Shinichi’s hair, his nails scraping slowly along his scalp. “Today was fun,” he said lightly. “It was nice to see the Sunflowers again. And nothing exploded!”

“Yeah,” Shinichi laughed. “It was a good choice. Thanks for dragging me away from my laptop.”

“Oh, it was absolutely my pleasure, Tantei-kun. It is, after all, my job to corrupt you.”

“Ha. Yeah, yeah.” Shinichi inched up and touched a quick kiss to Kaito’s lips. “Good night, Kaito.”

“Good night, Shinichi. I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun doing the research for the scene where Kaito teaches Shinichi a card trick. And by “research” I mean watching YouTube videos, playing with a deck of cards, and eating stroopwafels and hot cocoa… Writing! :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick and dirty pronunciation guide!  
Bijl = Beel  
Jan = Yahn  
Evy = AY-vee  
Jenever = Yeh-NAY-ver  
Bas = Bahss
> 
> I’m all about the audio so I like to be able to hear the words in my head when I’m reading. I thought other people might want to as well. : ) If there are other words that gave you pause that I haven’t included, please don’t hesitate to ask!

_Amsterdam, Netherlands_

_Late January_

They had been in Amsterdam two and a half weeks when Shinichi finally caved and admitted he’d have to hit the streets to solve his latest case.

“It’s a missing person,” he told Kaito that morning as he was putting on his coat. “The police haven’t come up with anything so her friends were hoping I’d be able to turn up a new lead.”

“Turn up a new lead or turn up their friend?” Kaito asked with some skepticism.

“She’s been missing for seventeen days. They might want me to find her, but–”

“You’re thinking you’re more likely to find whoever was responsible for her disappearance.”

“Her odds aren’t good,” Shinichi agreed. “That’s the least I can do at this point.”

Kaito hmm’d and stepped up to Shinichi to wrap the blue plaid scarf around his neck. He managed to get a small smile out of him when he snuck a kiss onto the tip of Shinichi’s nose. “Be careful,” Kaito said. “Text me?”

Shinichi stole a kiss as well, a little lingering, and Kaito’s hands closed tighter on the folds of the scarf. “Sure.”

Shinichi’s clients, Sara Bakker and Jan Smidt, had grown up with the missing Annemarie van der Bijl. They were the same age – early thirties – and had gone to the same schools since childhood. However, after their schooling had ended they’d grown a bit more distant. Sara and Jan didn’t know exactly where Annemarie lived. They always went out when they met up with her.

Shinichi made several stops that first day looking for leads on Annemarie’s disappearance. He spoke to the police, stopped by the restaurant where Annemarie usually met her friends, hit up a library to stumble awkwardly through Dutch news articles, and tracked down the people responsible for those articles to get a bead on their sources and whether or not they knew anything more that hadn’t translated well to news (or to Japanese).

The only useful piece of information he gained from the entire day of work was Annemarie’s home address, but that was enough.

When Kaito came home that night Shinichi was there, sitting up in bed with his laptop. Kaito shed his winter gear and stood next to the bed with a wide-eyed look that very clearly said “pay attention to me.” Shinichi rolled his eyes and set the laptop aside so Kaito could throw himself onto the bed, sprawling across Shinichi’s lap with a dramatic arm draped over his eyes.

“Welcome home,” Shinichi laughed.

“I’m back,” Kaito sighed in response.

Shinichi’s hand trailed over Kaito’s forehead and back over his hair. “Rough day?”

“Not _really_.”

“Hmm?”

Kaito opened one eye, peeking out from under his arm to see the smug, knowing smile on Shinichi’s face. “Tch.” He rolled over, turning away from Shinichi. Shinichi just slid a hand under Kaito’s shirt to rub his back, his nails scraping lightly. “That damn Khiêm,” Kaito murmured like surrender. “She was just getting under my skin today. It’s stupid.”

“The lighting manager?” Shinichi asked. “I bet you were goofing off again.”

“It was one little handstand! She didn’t have to swing that spotlight in my face just for that.”

“Can’t get along with everyone, I guess. Like you said, it’s still a job. Gotta deal with your coworkers.”

Kaito huffed. “What about you? How was your case?”

“Mm. Ongoing,” Shinichi answered. “Actually, I was hoping you could help.”

Kaito sat up. “What do you need?”

“I tracked down our missing person’s address and stopped by there on my way back. There’s no sign of foul play _outside_ but–”

“You want in.”

“I don’t think I’ll get anywhere otherwise.”

“I can do that,” Kaito answered. “Tonight?”

“You’ve got work in the morning.”

Kaito’s eyebrows went up and his head tilted down, rolling his eyes up at Shinichi like he’d just said something very dumb.

“Yeah, all right, tonight,” he conceded. “These kinds of cases _are _time sensitive. Though at this point…”

Kaito slid off the bed. “Let’s go.”

Kaito was not a detective. He was smart, yes. _Very _smart. But Shinichi was specialized. There was no point to Kaito making clumsy guesses at the deeper meaning of a misplaced left sock or an oddly angled chair, so when they broke into Annemarie van der Bijl’s empty apartment they didn’t split up to search it. Kaito just stuck close by Shinichi’s side and let him do the deducing, and quietly made sure Shinichi left no evidence while doing so. The winter gloves they were both already wearing made that fairly easy, at least.

Shinichi paused in the cramped entryway before anything, crouching to examine the door handle then picking through the purse that was sitting on a small table near the door. Kaito couldn’t tell if the creases forming between his eyebrows meant he’d found something or he hadn’t.

He checked the coat closet next, then bee-lined for the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Expired,” he muttered after shoving through the items on the shelf. Then he went to the sink, staring hard at the few dirty dishes stacked there in the glow of his flashlight. He moved with more purpose after each item he inspected – the garbage cans, the thermostat, the soil of a potted plant, and the dust on the blinds that were closed in front of the windows. It was in the bedroom that Kaito noticed there wasn’t just _purpose _there anymore. The look on Shinichi’s face was growing darker as well.

After checking the closet in the bedroom Shinichi almost ransacked the dresser, abandoning his flashlight so he could rifle through everything with both hands in the light from Kaito’s, which followed his motions without any need for communication. Kaito might not have known what everything was adding up to in Shinichi’s head, but he certainly knew that, whatever it was, it left no room for anything else.

Shinichi barely glanced around the bathroom before his flurry of motion came to a literal stand-still and his hand went to his chin, his eyes distant and his mind deep in the puzzle. Kaito waited quietly for the “talk it through” portion to start.

“Normally,” Shinichi eventually began, his voice hushed in the dark. “The first thing to determine about a missing person is whether they left under their own power or were taken, particularly if you already know where they disappeared _from_.”

Kaito nodded along.

“In this case, I think she left from here but… there’s evidence of both.”

“Both?” Kaito repeated. “You mean some of the clues say she left on her own and some say she was forced to go?”

“Mm.”

“…Under threat maybe?”

“Hard to say,” Shinichi sighed. “There’s no evidence of an actual threat, but there’s also no phone or computer here. She _could _have been threatened any number of ways that we wouldn’t see…” He glanced over his shoulder again at the closet.

“But you don’t think so,” Kaito finished for him.

“I…” He trailed off for a little too long then let out a frustrated half-growl, pushing a gloved hand through his hair and raising static all through it. “I could believe that she _felt _threatened. That she ran. …She disappeared the same day I flew in.”

“What?” The word held the sharpness of startled alarm and Kaito drew in closer. “Where are you going with this?” he asked needlessly.

“Did you notice?” Shinichi said. “There’s not one single piece of black clothing anywhere in this apartment.”

Kaito stared at him. Shinichi tried not to feel judged. Tried not to feel paranoid. Tried not to let irrational _feelings _corrupt the facts.

“There are clothes in the laundry basket,” he raced on. “But there are no empty hangers. None. There’s no winter coat in the coat closet. There’s too much space in the row of shoes on the shelf – more than one pair is missing–”

“So she took some clothes with her–” Kaito countered, monitoring his tone to keep from getting combative.

“The hangers too? All of them? With the hurry she was in? She took the clothes and hangers to hide them. She closed the blinds but didn’t change the thermostat’s settings or take out the garbage or clean the dishes or empty the fridge. She didn’t even take her purse – just cash, her phone, and her laptop.”

“Laptop–?” Kaito cut himself off and shook his head. Whatever clue had told Shinichi that, it didn’t matter. “So, what? You think she’s one of _them_?”

“They’re all over the world,” Shinichi answered. “Why not here?”

Kaito’s first instinct was to reach out and take Shinichi’s hand but he could see in the tension all through his posture that if he tried, Shinichi would pull away. “But Shinichi,” he said instead. “If this Annemarie person really was part of the Organization, why would she disappear when you flew in? Shouldn’t it be sort of the opposite?”

“Not if she felt threatened.” Shinichi’s fingers grazed over the closet door. “Silver bullets and fairy tales,” he muttered.

“…Vermouth?” Kaito asked.

“She’s been spinning stories about us to the Organization. Keeping them scared. Maybe this time it worked a little _too_ well. I don’t know.”

This time Kaito did move in, standing close at Shinichi’s side and locking their fingers together when Shinichi’s hand turned to take Kaito’s. “So what comes next?” he murmured.

Shinichi took out his phone and opened his website to show Kaito the conversation history linked to the case request. “We find her.”

Shinichi scrutinized his interactions with the two friends who had hired him for the case the entire way back to their rooms, rereading everything in the new light of “potential Black Organization conspirators”, but nothing seemed amiss. He tentatively revised his theory to “uninformed bystanders” and resolved to dig deeper into the matter once it was not the middle of the night. 

Kaito got little sleep but he didn’t seem any worse for wear when he left for work in the morning. Shinichi didn’t get much more than Kaito had, unable to go back to sleep after Kaito had left with as much as he had on his mind. He logged in to his case site and emailed his clients to set up a chat. Sara soon signed on.

**Bakker, Sara: ** _Did you find anything yesterday?_

**Kudou Shinichi: ** _I have a few theories. Can I ask you some questions?_

**Bakker, Sara: ** _Of course._

**Kudou Shinichi: ** _What does Annemarie do for a living?_

It was a shorter discussion than he would have liked even though Sara (assuming she was answering honestly) didn’t hold anything back. She, Jan, and Annemarie may have grown up together, but Sara and Jan knew precious little about Annemarie’s adult life. They knew she was employed, and she had never seemed to have money problems, but she only ever talked about “work” in general. It strengthened the theory that Sara and Jan were only incidentally involved with this suspected Organization member.

As much of a relief as that was, it wasn’t particularly helpful. He was beginning to think he’d run dry on useful information Sara could provide before something abruptly clicked.

**Kudou Shinichi: ** _You said Annemarie doesn’t have any family, and you and Jan only meet up with her once in a while for drinks. What made you go so far as to hire a detective to look for her? She might have just lost touch._

**Bakker, Sara: ** _One of Annemarie’s friends from work contacted us. He couldn’t get a hold of her so he was worried. He sent us your site, but we decided to reach out to the police first._

So many questions rushed through Shinichi’s mind and left him staring blankly at the keys. _A friend from work? An Organization member? How did he find Sara and Jan? Did he go through them to avoid me? Why give them my information?_

Eventually, he typed out:

**Kudou Shinichi: ** _Please send me anything this person sent to you._

Shinichi spent the next hour scouring the emails Sara forwarded to him. Charlie, the person who had sent the emails from a perfectly generic personal email address, claimed to be a coworker in the States. He said nothing specific about any company they worked for or any business that they engaged in – just that he worked frequently with Annemarie via email and instant messenger, and that he was concerned when she disappeared without taking time off.

Charlie’s excuse for having Sara’s and Jan’s names and contact information was vague and roundabout, hinting that Annemarie had provided it in passing at some point. Apparently neither Sara nor Jan had found that suspicious or worrying in the least. Shinichi sighed. _Is this how people who _aren’t _hunted think? I can’t imagine what that must be like… _

For a long time, Shinichi batted around the idea of emailing Charlie himself. On the one hand, he was at a dead end. Annemarie’s apartment, while yielding clues about _how_ she had left, had told him nothing about where she might have gone. On the other hand, it was looking more and more likely that Annemarie was an Organization member, and if this “Charlie” was actually a coworker then he was almost certainly a member as well. Contacting him directly could end… badly.

It was evening by the time he’d made up his mind and he hit the streets again to pay another visit to the restaurant where Annemarie, Sara, and Jan most often met.

“That’s Annemarie,” the first waiter Shinichi asked said in response to the picture Shinichi showed him. “Are you vith the police?”

“I’m a detective,” Shinichi answered, and fortunately that didn’t seem to be off-putting to the man.

“The police asked, too,” the waiter continued. “But it has been veeks since she vas here.”

“I know,” Shinichi said. “But do you remember if she ever talked about other places she’s been?” He’d asked Sara and Jan already, but if his theory about Annemarie panned out she would have been careful about letting anything slip to friends who could get curious. The wait staff could be a different story. If it wasn’t, he was facing a pretty risky Plan B.

A waitress came out of the back then and caught the attention of the waiter Shinichi was occupying near the front of the restaurant. She walked over, said something in Dutch, and Shinichi caught Annemarie’s name in the midst of the unfamiliar words when the waiter answered. The woman brightened.

“Detective?” she said to Shinichi.

“Um, yes,” Shinichi replied.

“Can you come back tomorrow morning? Before ve open? Zere’s someone you should meet.”

Shinichi went. The waitress was standing outside of the restaurant waiting for him in the pre-dawn light, her hands in her pockets and her body hunched up against the cold.

“Good morning,” she said when Shinichi walked up.

“Good morning. I didn’t catch your name before.”

“Evy.”

“I’m Shinichi. Nice to meet you.”

“Heh. I’m really glad to meet _you_,” she breathed out in a pale fog. “Zis has been bothering me ever since zhat woman vent missing.”

Shinichi’s stance shifted unconsciously, becoming a little looser, a little more ready. “So, who is this person I’m meeting?”

“Za delivery man for our jenever supplier.”

“Jenever?”

Evy smirked. “It’s gin, only better.”

Shinichi’s confidence flickered away in an instant and he tensed up again. “And… why do you think I need to meet him?” he asked warily. He didn’t even notice his hands coming out of his coat pockets so he could fiddle with the strap of his watch.

Evy looked suddenly abashed. “Maybe it’s nothing…” she said. “But he…” She waved her hand as she tried to recall the word in English. “He vaved at her once – at Ms. Van der Bijl. Like he knew her. But she ignored him, so… maybe it vasn’t at _her_, or may be a mistake–”

“So you didn’t mention it to the police,” Shinichi interpreted. “But it still bothered you.”

She nodded.

“Thank you for telling me. I think you were right to trust your instincts.”

They heard a truck pull up around the corner of the building from them and Evy checked her watch. “Very on time.”

Bas was a fair-haired, well-built man in a delivery uniform and light winter gear. He had an open, expressive face and a friendly smile, and he raised a hand and greeted Evy in Dutch as she and Shinichi came around the corner. Evy responded and Shinichi stood by awkwardly as she stood on her tiptoes for a culturally normal mutual cheek kiss. Then she gestured at Shinichi and said something else. Bas’ face changed then, becoming uncertain.

“Um,” Shinichi said. “Is anything wrong?”

“Oh sorry,” Evy said. “Bas doesn’t speak much English, but I can translate.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That you vant to ask questions about Ms. Van der Bijl. Vhat do you vant to know?”

Shinichi considered them both for a few seconds then finally said, “Please ask him how he knows her – not the person he waved to, but Annemarie van der Bijl.”

It was a tedious back and forth, but Shinichi felt galvanized when he parted ways with Evy and Bas. He had his next lead – a location, an _address_ even, and a whole slew of new theories to drive him. The only question now was timing. He pulled out his phone.

*

Kaito had not been happy to hear Shinichi’s plan to walk into a metaphorical den just to see if there was a lion inside – not because that was stupid and dangerous, but because he’d told Kaito he couldn’t come with him.

“You can’t get involved,” he’d said. “KID’s supposed to be in Japan,” he’d said. And other logical things.

To make it worse, one of Shinichi’s arguments as to the validity of this Kaito-less arrangement was that Hakuba would be providing him with backup if necessary. _Hakuba _wasn’t even in the same _country_.

Needless to say, Kaito was thoroughly put out over the whole thing, enough that neither he nor Shinichi bothered to pretend that Kaito _wasn’t _going to stealthily follow Shinichi and hang around outside anyway. They just left it unsaid.

Shinichi had chosen a late hour on a Tuesday to make his move. He stood in front of the bar in the cold night staring up at the wooden sign above the door. Out-of-the-way didn’t really begin to cover it. On top of that, the bar was called Jenever’s – perfectly generic and difficult to search – but Bas had provided him the address. His gloved fingertips rapped nervously against the phone in his pocket one last time before he took in a long breath and opened the door.

The thick tracking glasses he was wearing fogged up as he stepped out of the cold into the dim bar. He paused to wait for them to clear and hurriedly unbuttoned his coat while he did. Depending on how things went, he wanted to be able to get to his ball belt and suspenders quickly. Still, he left the coat on hoping it would help cover the handcuffs (courtesy of Kaito) that were clipped at his back. And besides, his coat pocket was the most convenient place for his phone in this situation.

Making his way toward the bar along the back wall of the wide room, he noted two men at the corner booth to the left of the door, a man and woman at a table to the right, and another man sitting at the bar. Then he locked eyes with the bartender.

It was a moment of unexpected, instantaneous, synchronized recognition. The woman behind the bar had a dark red pixie cut, thick-framed glasses, and bold makeup. She was probably wearing heels, too, because she appeared quite a bit taller than the long-haired, pale blonde Annemarie van der Bijl who appeared in all the missing person photos. But it was her. And a pair of glasses was nowhere near enough to keep her from recognizing Shinichi.

“Shit,” they both muttered, one in Japanese and one in Dutch, and then Shinichi was vaulting over the bar and colliding with Annemarie just in time to keep her from using the gun she’d ripped free from the underside of the counter.

They both wound up on the floor but Shinichi was on top, and he made short work of pinning Annemarie face-down and cuffing her hands behind her back. The gun had fallen aside and he reached for it, wary of the five unknowns still in the room, but when a shadow fell over him he dropped it again and fired the watch instead in something uncomfortably close to a panic. The needle hit its mark and the man who had been sitting at the bar staggered and slumped against the wall, asleep.

“Fuck,” Shinichi breathed out, but when he grabbed up the gun again and moved to sneak a look over the edge of the bar, Annemarie caught his ankle between both of hers and jerked him down. A savage kick with a black, hard-heeled boot brought the taste of blood to Shinichi’s mouth in a burst of pain and his glasses went flying. He reeled back, sprawling on the tile.

Annemarie took the chance to sit up and work her legs through the loop of her arms, but Shinichi was not lying idly by. He unhooked his suspenders and tugged them out from under his coat just in time to roll over and see Annemarie standing over him. The gun was in her sights, thrown out of Shinichi’s reach, but out of Annemarie’s as well unless she moved past him in the narrow space behind the bar.

For a tense second they watched each other, uncertain of what the other would do, but Annemarie quickly decided that she could not just step over Shinichi without retaliation. She took her chances while he was still prone and raised her foot to stomp down instead.

Shinichi was waiting for the opportunity. He twisted toward her, rolling into her supporting leg, and wrapped the suspenders around her ankle. Pushing himself up, he toppled her over then dropped again to twine the suspenders around her legs and set them to constrict. Annemarie wriggled on the floor, shouting what he could only assume were curses in Dutch, and tugged uselessly at the binding with her cuffed hands. He left her to it and crept low toward the other end of the bar to pick up the gun.

This time when Shinichi peeked over the counter the place was empty. He cautiously stood and paced a quick check of the small room, the gun ready in his hands, but they were alone. Part of him wondered if any of the patrons (assuming they were innocent bystanders) would call the cops, but it didn’t much matter either way. As he headed back around the bar again another part of him wondered if the guy sleeping on the floor was actually Organization or just a concerned customer who’d seen a foreigner jump a local woman at a bar. He supposed that didn’t matter right now either.

Letting out a weary sigh that aggravated his swollen cheek, Shinichi set the safety on the gun and tucked it into the back of his pants under his coat. Then he hauled Annemarie to her feet and nudged her toward the wall to keep her balanced, one hand on her shoulder and the other on the chain of the handcuffs.

“Who told you I was coming to Amsterdam?” he asked her. “Why did you disappear?”

The unfamiliar string of words that had been a near constant mumble under Annemarie’s breath since she had been caught finally cut off as she glared at him.

“Fine,” Shinichi continued. “I’ll speculate. You heard I was on my way – it’s published online anyway so it doesn’t matter how. You made yourself scarce, running from the Silver Bullet you’d heard whispers about–”

“Oh, it’s more zhan vispers,” Annemarie finally said in English, and Shinichi smirked.

“Maybe so. But did you really think you could just lie low and ignore your orders from the Organization for a whole month? What kind of plan is that?”

“Ha!” she barked. “I _am _following orders! Divert and evade.”

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. “So you became a missing persons case? You put yourself right in my path.”

“I didn’t think anyone vould notice me missing!” she shot back.

“Your _friends_ did. Are you really that surprised?”

“Hmph.” She turned her nose up at him. “It’s normal for us not to talk. Maybe I am on holiday. Zhey have no reason to think anything is wrong.”

Something inside Shinichi thrummed. He could feel it. He was about to stumble onto something big. “And there’s no one else who would have noticed your sudden absence?” he asked.

“Of course not! I am not an amateur. I clean my tracks.”

“What about Charlie?”

And there it was. Annemarie’s face had gone pale and still under her makeup, her eyes wide. “Vhat.”

“Your coworker in the States?” Shinichi said innocently.

“How… do you know him?” she asked, and it was equal parts caution and confusion.

He watched closely for her reaction to every word as he laid out the story he’d been fed. “He was concerned about your disappearance. He suggested that your friends get me involved.”

Another sharp interjection in Dutch, then, “She turned him on me!”

Shinichi went cold. “Who did?”

“Zijn _lieve_ moeder,” she answered, and even in Dutch Shinichi could make out the dripping sarcasm. “Forget it,” Annemarie went on. “Are you going to arrest me now or vhat?”

Part of him wanted to press her on the subject. Then again… “Oh, don’t worry. Backup’s on the way.” He released her shoulder to pull out his phone and show her the call in progress. “I’m just passing the time.”

The door to the bar banged open then and several cops rushed in. Shinichi raised his hands and stepped back from Annemarie, smiling as the cops took over.

“Yeah, thanks Hakuba. I owe you one,” Shinichi said into his phone, watching as Annemarie was forced into one of the white, blue, and orange police cars.

“I think it is rather I who owes you, Kudou-kun. Or have you forgotten again that tracking these people down and arresting them is my job, not yours.”

Shinichi’s eye twitched. “Whatever. You recorded our conversation, right?”

“Yes. I will get back to you with a translation of what Ms. Van der Bijl was saying in Dutch. For now, perhaps go home and get some rest. I believe it is past midnight where you are.”

“You know, if you really think you owe me, Hakuba, do me a favor and quit being such a mother hen,” Shinichi griped.

“Certainly. Tell Kuroba-kun I say hello.”

Hakuba hung up and Shinichi rolled his eyes. There was a confusing sense of… appreciation though, for the simple fact that Hakuba knew Kaito was lingering nearby, out of sight. He didn’t show himself until Shinichi had parted ways with the cops and was headed back to their rooms, though.

“That went as well as it could have I guess,” Kaito said as he appeared on the sidewalk at Shinichi’s side. He stopped him for a moment under a streetlight and gently tilted his face to get a look at Shinichi’s cheek. It was swollen and red with darker splotches starting to gather for a significant bruise, but it was low enough to spare his eye at least. “Should probably get some ice on that,” Kaito said. “Lose any teeth?”

“Na. Just cut the inside of my cheek on ‘em. Might look bad for a little while but it should stop hurting pretty quick.”

“Mm.” He touched a gentle, lingering kiss to the opposite corner of Shinichi’s lips before they continued on their way.

*

Hakuba didn’t get back to Shinichi with the follow-up on the case until almost a week later when Shinichi and Kaito were sitting at the airport waiting for the flight to Berlin.

“We are keeping Ms. Van der Bijl’s location very quiet for now,” he explained over the phone to Shinichi. “Until we can set up another high security holding cell.”

“Any word from KID on that?” Shinichi asked.

“Why _yes_, now that you mention it.” The eye roll was audible. “Nakamori-keibu received an unsolicited blueprint just the other day. It was laminated, rolled up, and stuffed inside the red snapper the inspector was filleting for dinner.”

Shinichi choked on a laugh but recovered quickly. _Nice one, Jii-san. _“I see,” he said with all the collected scraps of his seriousness. “What about the translation from the night Van der Bijl was arrested?”

“Ah, yes.” Shinichi could hear a few clicks on the other end as Hakuba pulled up the transcript. “It took a little while to clean up the audio, but I’ll send you the translation file.”

“Thanks, Hakuba. Anything else I should know before we call this case closed?”

Hakuba hummed thoughtfully. “Nothing you haven’t already deduced, I’m sure. Jenever’s, the bar where Ms. Van der Bijl was hiding, was, of course, a front. It seems an abundance of drug deals took place there.”

“Of course,” Shinichi agreed.

“Sara Bakker and Jan Smidt are indeed innocent, and, as I understand it, were rather shocked to hear that their friend had been found and simultaneously arrested.”

Shinichi let out a sigh. “Right.”

“As for the emails from the ‘coworker’ Charlie – we were not able to trace anything back. We have no idea from where those emails were truly sent, who Charlie is, or for what purpose he put you on the case.”

“What we do know,” Shinichi said grimly. “Is that Charlie is out there somewhere, and he doesn’t mind a little backstabbing.”

“Despite all of these unknowns, I think it is safe to say that you have not heard the last from this person.”

“Agreed.”

Kaito elbowed Shinichi and nodded toward the line that was forming to board.

“Ah, I’ve got to go Hakuba. Thanks again for your help. I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.”

“Safe travels,” Hakuba replied, maybe just a bit more earnestly than one usually might, and Shinichi smiled as he ended the call.

“Well,” Shinichi said as he and Kaito folded themselves into the throng of magicians. “I’m still waiting.”

“For what?” Kaito asked.

“For you to tell me I was right.”

Kaito’s eyebrow made a sharp arch. “Oh really. I think you’re gonna have to narrow that down. Which instance of correctness would this be? That are _ever_ so many, you know.” He fluttered his eyelashes innocently and Shinichi rolled his eyes.

“About Annemarie van der Bijl being Organization.”

“Oh.”

“Admit it; you were doubting me back there, at her apartment.”

Kaito hesitated but, despite Shinichi’s continued light tone his eyes were saying _Do this for me. Help me feel less paranoid. Validate my logic. _It was not something Kaito was used to him needing.

“Okay, yeah,” Kaito said. “As it turns out, I didn’t want to believe that you were being slowly dragged into another Organization case that would end up with you hurt.” He turned toward Shinichi to trail his fingertips lightly over his bruised cheek. “But I was wrong. That’s exactly what was happening. And it’s a good thing that you recognized it.”

“…How did you seriously just make me feel guilty in this situation?”

“It’s a talent,” Kaito said, smirking, and he led the way onto the plane.

They stowed their carry-ons and Shinichi sat down, relaxing back into the corner of the seat and window while Kaito plopped down and angled himself toward the other seats so he could chat with the rest of the troupe. Shinichi just tapped Kaito’s tablet awake and pulled up the file Hakuba had sent him. He lost himself in it quickly, trying his best to picture everything from that night as he read over the transcript of the audio Hakuba had captured through his phone. Most of the translated Dutch was just swearing and complaining but at the end, when Shinichi had demanded to know who had “turned” Charlie on her, Annemarie had answered “his dear mother.”

Shinichi stared at the words, struggling to see some connection, but ultimately he didn’t know what to make of it. Still, it was one more piece to the massive puzzle of the Organization. The picture would come together soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, my deers~! ♥


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thijs de Haan (the prop master) has a role in this chapter and I just realized I hadn’t mentioned how to pronounce his name when I first introduced him. It’s pronounced “Tice”.

_Berlin, Germany_

_February _

*

“Zivania.”

“Vell, if it isn’t Vermouth. I’m bored, have you got a job for me?”

“The opposite, actually. Just thought I should warn you: don’t go in for anything Bishop tries to recruit you for.”

“Bishop?”

“Or Chartreuse.”

“I haven’t heard from eizer of zem.”

“If you do,” Vermouth pressed. “Take my advice.”

“Is zis to do vith zeh standing order?” Zivania asked. “I know vell enough to follow it.”

“Just keep in mind what I said about those two.”

Vermouth ended the call, glanced at the schedule pulled up on her laptop, then muttered, “Might be best if I get in front of Fernet too.” She scrolled through her contacts and placed her next call to Paris.

*

Shinichi would never get tired of watching Kaito familiarize himself with a new space. Even in the cold of early February, the first thing he did after they’d hauled their things into the housing unit was open the windows. His doves took it as permission to pick the locks on their cages (that were only there for show anyway) and stretch their wings outside. Conveniently, this also doubled as a perimeter sweep.

While the doves were out, Shinichi would wait by the front door, out of the way, and watch Kaito move through the rooms. There was focus there without intensity, caution without fear, and Shinichi would admit to being jealous of Kaito’s casual handle on life under threat. After all, if Annemarie van der Bijl had taken notice of Shinichi’s arrival in Amsterdam, there was no telling who might be noticing his arrival in Berlin.

Kaito finished his circuit around the same time his doves returned and he finally closed the window with a shudder. “Winter sucks,” he said, though not uncheerfully, with a dove perched on the back of each hand. Their feathers were fluffed and they fluttered their wings as if to shake off the cold, no more pleased with the weather than their magician. “We should check out the Badeschiff.”

“The what?” Shinichi moved away from the door and came up behind Kaito, slipping his arms around his waist and leaning heavily into Kaito’s back.

“It’s a swimming pool floating in the Spree.”

“…You want to go swimming. In a river. In winter.” He pulled away. “Sorry. Been there, done that. Multiple times.”

“They cover it,” Kaito laughed. He lifted his hands and the two doves took flight to join the others atop the travel cages in the corner of the room. “It’s this big long dome and it’s warm inside. There’s saunas and stuff, too. Clothing optional,” he added with copious eyebrow wiggling. “Or possibly prohibited. I’m not actually sure.”

“So it’s like a public bathhouse,” Shinichi said, rolling his eyes. “Big deal.” He was already having a hard time hiding his smile. Baiting Kaito never got old.

“Shinichiiiii,” Kaito whined predictably. “We’re only here for six weeks! I don’t have many days off! I was hoping we could go tonight!”

“Tonight?” Shinichi repeated. They’d literally just arrived in Berlin and Kaito already wanted to go sightseeing. Seemed he was finally learning not to wait like they had in England. “How late is it open?”

“Three A.M. I think? Come on, let’s go!” Kaito was already on his knees digging through his own luggage and then Shinichi’s. He threw a change of clothes up at him and Shinichi caught them with another roll of his eyes.

_Well, he’s right, anyway. It’s a good chance before I start taking cases and he gets busy with the troupe again. _“Have it your way,” he answered with a smile.

*

A week later, Kaito, Shinichi, and five troupe members stood waiting for the keys to their two rental cars.

“Is this why you insisted on doing the Badeschiff first thing?” Shinichi asked, nudging Kaito with his elbow. “Because you knew these guys were planning something for one of your days off?”

“I might have had an idea this was coming,” Kaito said with a shrug and a grin.

“Wait,” West muttered. “You guys did the winter Badeschiff? But… did… like…”

Shinichi looked helplessly to Lili. “Huh?”

“The no clothes thing,” Lili filled in.

Nadette rolled her eyes. “Americans.”

West was blushing but he still crossed his arms and turned away in a huff as Nadette accepted both keys from the man behind the counter. The group headed out into the parking lot. “Okay, I’m driving one of these but who’s driving the other one?” she asked.

“I will.”

The reply echoed in perfect unison. Both Shinichi and Kaito were raising their hands and they glanced at each other, challenge in their eyes. Both West and Thijs had taken a firm step back.

“Now, now, my little nuggets, no need to fight,” Lili said, shoving at their knees to push between the two of them. “_I’ll _drive.”

“No.”

Again, the response echoed, this time from Nadette and West.

Ahadi leaned toward Lili and whispered, “License…?”

“Can you even reach the pedals?” Kaito cut in.

“Na,” Lili instantly replied. “I’ll just stuff you under the wheel and kick you when we need to go faster.”

“Okay,” Nadette sighed. “Ahadi and Lili are out because they _don’t_ have licenses,” she said firmly. “West and Ty, I assume you don’t _want _to drive on the bundesautobahn?”

“No, thank you,” Thijs said. West shook his head, wide-eyed.

“Okay. Kite, you drive to the house. Nugget, you drive back.” She dropped one of the keys into Kaito’s hand and he grinned.

“Wait, how did _I _become ‘Nugget’?” Shinichi pouted.

“The harder you struggle the more the nicknames stick, Nug,” Kaito answered. “Who’s riding with me?”

“It’s always difficult to leave Nederland, but I look forward to seeing Detective Shinichi,” Thijs said as Kaito followed Nadette through the city streets. Lili had not intended to miss Kaito driving on the autobahn (on the off chance traffic would allow him the freedom to drive as he’d choose) and she had dragged Thijs along with her into the backseat of Kaito and Shinichi’s car.

“Give us a good deduction show, Tantei-kun~” Kaito said, slipping in the Japanese nickname. “But hey, no one’s actually told me yet what mystery he’s supposed to be solving for you guys today.”

“It’s a house in Neuruppin close to where Nat grew up, and it’s haunted,” Lili answered

“Pfft, what?” Kaito snorted.

“It’s true! After the rich guy who built it died it was bought and sold a couple of times, but people _kept_ dying there.”

“Sounds like another one of those cases where someone plays up the creepiness of a place in order to keep people away so they can do shady things,” Kaito said dismissively.

“Maybe,” Shinichi said, smirking. “Maybe not. I thought so too at first, but I dug into it earlier this week and they’re right. There have been a lot of deaths among the people who’ve lived there, and all of them from illness.”

“Well, who lives there now?” Kaito asked.

“No one,” Thijs answered. “It’s abandoned. But Nat says people have seen smoke coming from one of za chimneys.”

“See?” Lili insisted. “I bet the guy who built the place is making anyone who messes with his fancy house sick. Su fantasma, tu sabes? Isn’t that great? Shinichi’s gonna find us a ghost!”

“I thought _I _was the ghost hunter,” Kaito muttered to Shinichi, but his smile was amused.

“What, just because you ‘caught’ _one _witch at your high school at night? I chase a certain phantom all the time.”

“Wait, what about a witch?”

“Zhat sounds like quite za story,” Thijs prompted.

“And this place is like an hour away. Go ahead, Kite,” Lili said with a grin. “Wow us.”

They were still swapping ghost stories, about halfway to the house when Shinichi saw it – an old-fashioned black Porsche coming up behind them in his side mirror. Thijs was midsentence in a tale about a haunted hen house when Shinichi took in a sharp breath and grabbed at Kaito’s arm, clutching his coat sleeve.

“Kaito–”

“Shinichi, what–?” He took a hand off the wheel to catch hold of Shinichi’s and followed the direction of his wide, unblinking eyes to the side mirror. His own eyes immediately jumped to the rearview mirror and he spotted the Porsche.

“Hey,” he said, a low, comforting murmur, sliding back into Japanese. “Shinichi, it’s okay. It’s not him. He’s locked up.” He sounded convincing – he made sure of it – but at the same time it was a struggle to keep from gunning the gas. All things considered, racing down an unfamiliar freeway with a black Porsche on their tail felt more than a little uncomfortable.

Shinichi’s eyes had squeezed shut but it wasn’t helping anything. The speed of the car and the feeling of Kaito’s hand locked around his over the center console had thrown him back to the night they’d escaped the mansion. His hand was itching for a loaded gun as much as his leg was itching under the burn scars on his thigh. He clutched Kaito’s hand harder but his breathing was getting away from him, slipping out of his control.

“Lili.” Kaito’s voice was firm but muted by the now-familiar fuzziness that was already creeping over Shinichi’s hearing. “Text West. Have him tell Nat we’re making a quick stop.”

“Sure, but–” Lili said.

“Shinichi, are you okay?” Thijs asked.

Shinichi couldn’t answer, couldn’t think, couldn’t move. Some very distant, quiet part of him knew that a lot of that would ease if he could just breathe normally, but he couldn’t for the life of him produce any kind of formula that would tell him _how_. It just kept getting worse.

“Shinichi,” Kaito whispered beside him, his only grounding point. “Everything’s okay.”

He didn’t open his eyes.

Kaito made quick work of getting off the autobahn and into the parking lot of a Burger King – one of very few establishments around. “Hey,” he said over his shoulder. He dug his wallet from a pocket without dropping Shinichi’s hand and tossed it back to Lili. “Could you guys go see if they’ve got juice or something? Shinichi’s not feeling well,” he tacked on vaguely.

Thijs already had his door open, winter air sweeping through the warm car. “Of course; we’ll be right back,” he said, nodding Lili along pointedly. She seemed reluctant, but she did hop out of the car. The two back doors thudding shut and leaving Kaito and Shinichi alone did something to calm them both a little.

“Shinichi?” Kaito tried again. “The Porsche is long gone. It didn’t follow us.”

Shinichi took a deep breath, or tried to. It hitched along the way and he curled forward a little in his seat. “I know,” he managed. “It wasn’t even the same model. I know it wasn’t him. It wasn’t. I _know _that.” His voice was shaking, his body quickly following suit, and Kaito was at a loss. He’d always calmed Shinichi with physical reassurance – holding him, breathing with him – but that wasn’t easily accomplished while they were both buckled into the front seats of a car.

Kaito raised Shinichi’s hand to his lips. “Let’s move to the backseat, okay?”

Shinichi’s head was still bowed but he shook it firmly. “Lili and Thijs–”

“Won’t care,” Kaito interrupted. “Ty can drive. He’s such a mother hen he’d probably insist on it anyway. Come on.”

In the time it took Kaito to get out and come around to Shinichi’s side of the car, all Shinichi had managed to do was unlatch his seatbelt. His hands were shaking and he had to clutch at Kaito just to make it to his feet while Kaito opened and closed doors for him. It was humiliating and frustrating and so _pointless_, but once they were in the backseat with Kaito’s back against one door and Shinichi leaning into his chest, things seemed a little better. At least they were still alone for the moment.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Shinichi muttered against Kaito’s coat after the haze of dizziness had passed, his breathing slowly matching to Kaito’s.

“There’s no ‘supposed to’,” Kaito said softly.

“No. It was supposed to be a fun haunted house case with some people from the troupe.”

“Well, do you want to turn around and go back?”

He took longer to respond than Kaito expected, but the answer was still what he’d thought.

“No.”

“Then that’s still what it’ll be.”

“…I made it awkward.”

“Na, pretty sure West did that when he brought up the Badeschiff.”

“_I _brought up the Badeschiff.”

“Oh. Then yeah, way to make things awkward, Tantei-kun.”

Shinichi smiled and nuzzled against Kaito’s chest. “…You don’t have to make Thijs drive,” he said eventually. “I’ll be fine.”

This time Kaito was quiet until Shinichi twisted to look up at him. “Shinichi,” he said. “There’s a fishing store across the street.”

Shinichi’s eyes went wide. Then he pushed against Kaito as if they could get any closer and tucked one arm around his ribs, the other over his shoulder. Kaito bent his head and sighed into Shinichi’s hair.

“I’d rather stay right here,” he murmured.

“Mm,” Shinichi agreed.

It wasn’t too much later that Lili’s head popped up beside the car, first at the front passenger window then at the back. She stared into the car on her tip toes, grinning and making suggestive eyebrows at them where they were reclined together in the back seat.

“Hey,” Kaito said with a smirk, loud enough to carry through the closed window. “We’re not puttin’ on a show back here.”

Shinichi groaned an audible eye roll into Kaito’s chest but he picked his head up when the two front doors opened, the scent of fast food rushing in with the cold. Thijs and Lili piled in with several paper sacks and slammed the doors. “What did you guys _do_?”

“We bought snack food,” Thijs said simply, but the first two bags he handed back to Kaito had bottles of water and boxes of what was probably orange juice. Then he passed Kaito’s wallet back into Shinichi’s hands and Shinichi immediately felt the tug of _deduction _at his mind. He let it take over, grateful for the distraction and feeling calmer all the time as he considered the wallet. He poked through it a bit before returning it to Kaito with a little hum. No money had been taken out.

Kaito either didn’t notice or wasn’t concerned. “‘Hohes C milde orange’,” he read from one of the juice boxes. “This should be interesting.”

“Interesting,” Thijs repeated. He shook his head. “Fake orange juice in a box. It should be fresh squeezed.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lili said like she’d heard this complaint too many times already. “Here. Real food.” She handed back another bag and Shinichi accepted. He and Kaito peered in. Only some of it was immediately identifiable.

“What are we looking at here?” Kaito asked. He sat up straighter against the door, pulling Shinichi with him, and reached around to snag what seemed to be a strip of apple from the bag.

“Apple fritas,” Lili answered.

“Apple frites,” Thijs corrected.

“This says ‘apfel pommes’,” Shinichi read, though he was already biting into one.

“Uh, in English it’s apple chips, right?” Kaito asked.

“I thought it was apple _fries _in English,” Shinichi muttered, digging into the bag again. He found a package of what were, to him, fried potatoes and pulled a few out. “Here we go again. I don’t care what they’re called; I’m eating them.”

“You guys went totally overboard,” Kaito laughed. “Chicken nuggets?”

“And chili cheese nuggets.”

“I told her not to,” Thijs said, all apology.

“I got Nugget everything on the menu that said ‘nugget’,” Lili answered, no apology.

“And that’s why you’re my favorite,” Shinichi said, popping a little triangle of fried cheese into his mouth and getting a spicy burst of jalapeño.

“Boyfriend stealer,” Kaito accused.

“Fiancé,” Shinichi corrected and when Kaito went subtly still under him he hurriedly turned just to catch the blush he knew would be on Kaito’s face.

*

Thijs got out of the driver’s seat at the house just outside the Northern city limits of Neuruppin and Lili followed out of the front passenger seat, spilling fast food bags and wrappers. Nadette, waiting for them beside the other car on the dirt road, put her hands on her hips and glowered.

“All right,” she said. “What happened.”

“There was a snack emergency,” Lili replied with a sort of flippant casualness. “It could not be helped.”

“You good?” Kaito murmured to Shinichi inside the car. They’d had to rearrange themselves into their own seats when they got back on the road but Shinichi had kept Kaito’s hand resting with his in the middle of the bench seat the whole way.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he answered. He felt steady. The house was right in front of him and the case was interesting. That was enough. They got out of the car.

“So, what have we got?” Shinichi asked, and maybe the confidence was still a little forced, but he knew by now that once he got into it that would even out.

West gestured across the yard at the large porch. “The Death House,” he said dramatically. They all stared up at it.

It was impressive, to be sure; tall and almost whimsical if not for the cold grey backdrop of the winter sky. The siding was a pale, dusty brick red accented with dirty white around the windows, across the railings outside them, and adorning the small turrets and roof peaks. The porch, under a flat roof supported by white posts, spanned most of the front and wrapped around the left corner. On the right, a room with large windows jutted out, cutting it off.

“Let’s get a good look at the outside before we head in.” Nadette waved them along and headed into the yard. All of them followed and Shinichi’s hands slipped into his coat pockets as he trailed behind the group, taking everything in.

The yard was bare, just folds of long, beige grass, crisp under their feet in the winter chill. A few sparse trees stood at respectable distances around it but their seeds had still taken root in gutters and nooks, sprouting spindly saplings that bobbed from the roof and through the windows and walls.

As they walked, Shinichi had to revise his initial impression of “large” to “huge”. The house was three stories, but it also stretched back farther than he’d first thought. When they made it around the corner opposite the wrap-around porch, they found a third-floor balcony looming above them. It swept around its corner of the building in a graceful arch with another white railing around its outer edge. When they came back around to the front door, Shinichi had his hand at his chin, eyes distant.

“Well?” Nadette asked. “Anything yet, detektiv?”

Shinichi blinked and looked up, then shook his head. “Not yet. Is it safe to go inside?”

“Uh, _no_?” West answered. He gestured emphatically at the house and Ahadi gave him an uneasy glance. “Death House. Remember?”

“We didn’t come all this way just to look at the outside,” Lili replied. “Of course we’re going in.”

“People go in all the time,” Nadette said, then added in a mysterious voice, “Of course, there’s lot of reports of people starting to act _strange_ once they’re inside.” She grinned and West groaned weakly.

“Yeah, but is it structurally sound?” Kaito pressed.

Nadette shrugged. “Close enough.” She was already picking her way carefully up the porch, keeping close to the railing to avoid the sagging middles of the steps. “Come on! Door’s open!”

Lili hurried after her but, as Kaito, Shinichi, and Thijs followed, the porch began to creak ominously. They all stepped a little quicker and filed through the front door. Ahadi brought up the rear, walking so close at West’s back that her nose almost touched the hood of his coat, but she was very determinedly _not _clinging onto him. She kept her hands clutched together at her chest and her dark eyes darted around anxiously as they all came to a stop in the dim entryway.

“So… which way first?” Kaito asked. Ahead of them was a stairway up to a dark landing. To the right, an open doorway led to the sun room that butted up against the porch outside. To the left was a spacious sitting room.

“Doesn’t matter,” Shinichi answered. “Not sure what I’m looking for yet.”

“Let’s just follow Nat.” West jabbed a thumb toward where Nadette was already poking her head into the sitting room.

“Would it be better if we split up to cover more ground?” Lili said, even as everyone migrated through the same doorway.

“It’s not a class trip; you don’t _have_ to stay with the group,” Nadette pointed out. Still, they all stopped in the middle of the cavernous room and looked around.

It was almost as cold inside as out, and away from the open front door there was an almost suffocating, musty smell, cut only by the occasional whistling breeze through gaps and broken windows. Grey daylight fell in dusty shafts onto a thin, flower-patterned carpet and Shinichi and Kaito watched as everyone realized in the same moment that a number of dead mice and insects were scattered on top of it. They all drew in toward the middle of the room in unison, like they were closing ranks, falling into a tighter circle with their backs to each other.

“Akelig,” Thijs muttered.

West let out an uneasy little groan. “It really _is _a death house.”

“Hey, at least you’re not down here,” Lili complained. Her eyes were fixed on the floor.

“You guys,” Kaito said, and Shinichi was unaccustomed to him playing the voice of reason but that tone was evident just the same. “This place has been abandoned for a long time and there are fields nearby. Of course there’d be some mice around. You’re not gonna let that stop you, are you?” He put his hands on his hips. “Or do you all need to wait outside?”

Lili huffed and took a step away from the group as if to prove her courage. “I want to meet the ghost.”

West turned to Ahadi. “You’re okay, right?” She was still a little hunched and tense but she nodded and West offered his hand with a smile. She took it and kept it as they all eased out of their alarm and spread out into the room. Kaito watched them all carefully, but for once Shinichi wasn’t watching Kaito. He moved toward the wall where a few of the dead rodents lay and clicked on the light in his watch.

The group was starting to head through the next doorway when Kaito realized Shinichi wasn’t following. He doubled back.

“Hey. Don’t tell me a couple dead mice are bothering you.”

Shinichi didn’t answer. He was passing his light between the tall windows and tattered drapery, deep in thought.

“Shinichi?”

“Huh?” He blinked and looked at Kaito. “The mice?” he asked, like his brain had just caught up with his ears. “Maybe.”

“Uh… huh,” Kaito said. “We okay to move on? I don’t really wanna leave these guys alone in here,” he added with a smirk.

Shinichi smiled and turned off his light. “Sure.”

The house was old-fashioned in the extreme, Shinichi noted as the group wandered through the excessive number of rooms. Apparently people had given up on the place long before anyone had managed to update it. Nearly every room had a fireplace, and radiators on the landings between each floor suggested a lack of modern heating. The bathrooms even had old pull-chain toilets with water tanks mounted high on the walls and pipes leading down to the bowls.

Shinichi had already known the place had been abandoned for a length of time, though it was reassuring to see the evidence of it with his own eyes – the infestation of various (dead) pests, the mold gathering in the kitchen and around the twin sinks in each bedroom, the cracks in the walls and ceilings. It freed his mind to focus on items that would tell him what the house had been like at the time that it was occupied.

The answer was _cluttered_, and in more ways than one. The patterns on the carpets, walls, and even sometimes on the ceilings were busy despite being clouded by layers of dirt and dust. The furniture and various accoutrements were still in place, abandoned along with the house since the few owners had died rather than moved out. He found the evidence of that as well in the bedrooms – signs of relatively long-term bed rest and illness… but nothing to tell him _why_.

They’d moved on to the second floor already and the glamour of the mystery was quickly wearing off for the rest of the group.

“It just looks like an old house to me,” Lili muttered, rubbing at her eyes. “Just dirty and gross. Salud,” she added when West sneezed.

“We should have brought some of that water from the car in with us,” Kaito said, wrinkling his nose and clearing his throat. “It must be dry in here or something.”

“It’s probably the dust. We’re stirring up quite a bit,” Shinichi said offhand. He was crouching beside a bed, examining the floor closely. “You guys can wait outside if you want. There’s still the third floor to look at after this. I’ve been taking reference pictures but I’m not sure I’ll have a solution before we leave. It might take a little more time to find your answer.”

“Still so confident though,” Nadette teased.

“Heh. I don’t mind staying,” Thijs said. He poked at the door of a nearby wardrobe and peeked curiously into it when it creaked open. “It’s interesting.”

Shinichi just shrugged and went back to his examinations.

Another several rooms later, they finally returned to the stairwell landing.

“Ugh, more stairs?” Lili groaned.

Nadette and Thijs were already heading up, West and Ahadi – still keeping close – following more slowly, but Lili looked like she was considering heading back downstairs.

It took two beats of silence too many for Shinichi to realize that the teasing he’d come to expect between Kaito and Lili hadn’t come. He looked around for Kaito immediately, almost physically turning away from the little shudder of panic in his chest, and found him easily. He was standing slightly apart from both Lili and Shinichi, hanging back, and his eyes were distant as if lost in thought. Shinichi, however, could read the truth on him in a glance: Kaito _was_ listening to every word, but he was carefully choosing his reactions. At the moment, it seemed he was just trying not to call attention to himself. He’d positioned himself in everyone’s blind spots – unconsciously, if Shinichi had to guess – and there was a distinct dearth of his usual… _vibrance_.

Shinichi hesitated, but Nadette, Thijs, West, and Ahadi were already out of sight. “You guys coming?” he asked, mounting the stairs.

Lili heaved a sigh but followed. Kaito’s positive reply was… measured. Shinichi tried to keep him in the corner of his eye as they headed up.

At the top, Shinichi headed to the right, toward where he knew the large balcony they’d seen from outside should be. His focus was so engrossed in the dual tasks of monitoring Kaito and investigating the house that he actually jumped when Thijs poked his head around a corner into the hallway.

“Shinichi, come here a moment.”

Shinichi blinked at him, bemused, but ducked into the room where Thijs was waiting. “Where’re the others?”

“We divided at za top of za stairs.”

“Oh. Did you find something?”

“Not about za house.” He shifted a little, glancing behind Shinichi at the hallway. “I feel that everyone is acting strangely,” he said, spoken low like he was confiding in him. “Just as Nat said.”

Shinichi’s mind instantly flashed back to Kaito but he only said, “Lili seems tired, I guess… I don’t know everyone else that well. Can you tell me more?”

Thijs nodded fervently. “Ahadi is tense,” he insisted like he was expecting to be contested. “She is… ah… fidgeting. West, he is a bit quieter zhan usual, and Kaito very much.”

Shinichi glanced over his shoulder at the hall beyond the doorway. After a few moments, he said without raising his voice, “Hey, Kaito?”

Kaito appeared in the doorway, quick but with no mirth, every movement restrained. “What’s up?” he said. Shinichi tugged off his glove with more urgency than he meant to at the forced casualness in Kaito’s voice. He reached out and touched his face.

Kaito’s expression softened with understanding. _Of course he’d notice. _“It’s nothing,” he assured him.

“No, it’s something,” Shinichi answered. “Just not sure what yet. You haven’t noticed? Everyone’s acting weird.”

Kaito’s eyes darted from Shinichi to Thijs.

“Everyone but us,” he amended. “And Nat, I think?”

Thijs nodded but Kaito was already pulling off his own glove and gently checking Shinichi for a mask as well. He let out a sigh. “I’m just not feeling well, that’s all,” he said.

Shinichi instantly sharpened. “Since when?”

“Uh… since just a little while ago, I guess? Why?”

“Since before we came inside?” he pressed.

Kaito’s eyes widened. “No,” he said. “After.”

A short shout from down the hall made all three of them jump. It was followed immediately by a loud string of sharp German words that Shinichi guessed were curses. He ran past Kaito into the hallway and past the stairs toward the sound. In the doorway of what appeared to be a small library he found Nadette backing toward him. She halted, startled, when he placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from colliding with him.

“What happened?”

“Uh,” she muttered, glancing back. Then she pointed. “It’s not just mice.”

She didn’t seem inclined to move so Shinichi edged around her into the room. There was another fireplace there with a chaise lounge pulled up in front of it, a clear and relatively recent dragging pattern in the scratches and scuffed dust on the floor. Lying on the narrow strip of hardwood between the lounge and the hearth was a woman, likely in her sixties, wearing layers of old battered clothes and not breathing as far as Shinichi could see. There was also a messy puddle of vomit on the hearth. He went to her side and checked for a pulse.

“She’s dead.”

“Pinche…”

He turned at Lili’s weak voice and found that everyone had gathered together again, the six of them clustered in the doorway of the library, staring at the grisly scene.

“I-It’s gotta be alcohol poisoning, right?” West asked.

Shinichi bent over the corpse and sniffed, then did the same to the vomit. Behind him, the five troupe members recoiled somewhat. “No,” he said. “I don’t smell any alcohol on her, and there are no bottles or cans around.”

“Is it rabies? She could have been bitten by a rat,” Nadette put in.

Shinichi was already pushing the woman’s sleeves back, examining her hands and arms. He got up and moved around the lounge to check her feet and ankles as well. “Unlikely,” he reported.

“…Asbestos?” Thijs said. They all looked around at the ceilings and walls.

Shinichi shook his head. “No. The symptoms are wrong. The symptoms…” He looked at West, Ahadi, who was slightly hunched and clutching her midsection, and Lili, weak and pale on her feet. Then he looked to Kaito. His eyes went a little distant before darting to the walls. “Ar–”

Ahadi stumbled to her knees and folded forward. A few short, harsh coughs had everyone quickly moving behind her before she started to vomit as well. West was already on his knees beside her in a clear panic. His hand hovered at her back like he wanted to help but didn’t know if he should touch her.

“Ahadi? Oh god, are you okay? She– She’s not gonna die too, right? What do we do?”

“Get out of the house,” Shinichi said sharply. “Thijs, can you carry Ahadi? Don’t worry; she’s not contagious, and she’s gonna be fine. Nadette, help Lili. Kaito–”

“I’m staying.”

Ahadi was pulling herself together somewhat and West was rubbing her back in soothing circles under her long braids. Kaito handed him a handkerchief which West accepted gratefully to help her clean her face. Then Kaito moved toward Shinichi.

“There’s a dead body here,” he murmured low, one eye on the troupe as West helped Ahadi onto Thijs’ back. “I know you’re not leaving, so I’m not either.”

“It’s fine,” Shinichi replied. “I already solved it. We both need to get out.” He raised his voice to address the room and added, “We’ll wait in the front yard but we shouldn’t get into the cars. I’ll call the cops and some ambulances. Let’s go.” He was already pulling out his phone, and following the others back toward the stairs. Kaito stayed close by his side and Shinichi kept an eye on him as they went.

“_Some _ambulances?” Kaito asked quietly.

“You’ve been poisoned,” Shinichi said, very much under his breath so that only Kaito could possibly hear, though they’d already both switched back to Japanese. “You, Lili, Ahadi, and probably West at least a little.”

Kaito missed a step, took a heart-wrenching drop, then stopped just as abruptly when his flailing reach caught hold of Shinichi’s hand. Shinichi was steadily braced, apparently ready for the possibility of Kaito’s fall, and his strong grip held Kaito up until he could right his feet. He folded against Shinichi’s support, still standing in the middle of the stairs, and his breath came up short.

“What the hell?” he gasped out. His grip on Shinichi’s hand was weak but Shinichi held tight.

“Kaito?” Nadette called up from the landing below.

“He’s fine,” Shinichi answered. “Go on ahead. Get to the yard.”

They did, and Shinichi helped Kaito down the stairs at a slow and careful pace.

“It’s the house,” Shinichi said as they went. “It’s Victorian.”

“…And?”

“A Victorian-style house built in the 1800s by a wealthy eccentric in Germany,” Shinichi explained. They paused on the landing and Shinichi felt a stronger pang of worry in his chest at how much trouble Kaito seemed to be having. A moment later he made up his mind and picked Kaito up in a bridal carry. Kaito seemed about to argue for a moment but thought better of it and tipped his head against Shinichi’s shoulder instead. “The guy who built this place,” Shinichi went on as they headed down to the first floor. “Was taken by the trends of England, including the décor. It’s the wallpaper. There’s arsenic covering the walls.”

Kaito seemed too lightheaded to comprehend that for a moment. “A… _Arsenic_?” he eventually said.

Shinichi nodded. “They used it in loads of stuff back then, including certain dyes for wallpaper. Even when the papers were new, people were slowly being poisoned in their homes. _This _place is deteriorating like crazy. Just walking through, we were all exposed.”

“Then why,” Kaito breathed. “Why not you? Or Ty or Nat?”

“Everyone metabolizes it at a different rate. It can be affected by a lot of things: age, diet…” The front door was still standing open and they came out onto the porch. The troupe was huddled on the grass, West, Ahadi, and Lili all sitting on the ground, Thijs and Nadette leaning over them worriedly with their hands propped on their knees. Shinichi let out a little sigh of relief and edged carefully down the porch steps, keeping close to the railing.

“There are plenty of people who lived their whole lives with arsenic wallpaper in their homes and were never adversely affected, even while visitors or family died around them. That’s why some people found it so hard to believe that arsenic wallpaper really was bad for you, and why it was never outlawed.” They came up beside the group and Shinichi let Kaito slowly back onto his feet. He immediately took a seat in the grass with the others and Shinichi sat with him. “I bet the original owner wasn’t affected either,” he continued. “So he didn’t believe there was an issue. No one knew the wallpaper was dangerous. When the owner eventually passed away, the house changed hands. People fell mysteriously ill, were bedridden in a room full of arsenic, and died. Case closed.” He pulled out his phone and called the police.

All seven of the hapless house explorers were cleared to go home by that night – no one had taken in a lethal dose of the arsenic dust, and recovery had already begun the moment they’d gotten clear of the source. The police had been so caught up in how to handle the poisonous house and the homeless woman’s death that the scolding for trespassing was little more than a passing comment.

Nadette wasn’t pleased that the haunted house from her childhood was to be carefully dismantled and disposed of, but once Shinichi explained the whole of the case to them all, she grudgingly accepted its necessity.

Everything seemed fine. All wrapped up. But Shinichi couldn’t sleep that night, and Kaito’s sleep, despite his exhaustion from the poison and the various trying events of the day, was fitful. He was dreaming, and maybe on some level he knew that, but that didn’t make it easier. He could still only watch, too weak to stand or to free his hands from the ropes binding them behind his back as driving rain buffeted him. Shinichi was there, turned away from him and just out of shouting range in the storm. He didn’t turn even when the headlights of a driverless black Mercedes spotlighted him on the deserted road, engine revving as it squealed forward to run Shinichi down.

Shinichi was there, of course, when Kaito’s mind turned so fiercely from the scene that it wrenched him awake. He’d already gathered Kaito to his chest before Kaito had known what was happening, and he held tight as Kaito shuddered in his arms.

“Hey,” Shinichi whispered. “You okay?”

“Could be better. Ugh, today sucked.” He covered his face with both hands and turned more fully against Shinichi’s chest.

“Yeah,” Shinichi sighed. “It wasn’t ideal.” They were quiet for a while, but they knew neither would be sleeping any time soon. “So,” Shinichi eventually said. “You’re really comfortable with the troupe, huh.”

“Hm?” Kaito hummed without lifting his head.

“I mean, you could have completely hidden how sick you were at the house, but you didn’t bother, right? Enough that Thijs noticed.”

“Mm. I guess.” It took Kaito a moment to realize there was a reason Shinichi had mentioned it. “Something up?”

_Well… _Shinichi thought. _We’re not getting any sleep anyway. _“It’s just… the plane bombing in London. I have this feeling that someone from the troupe was involved.”

Kaito froze, rigid in Shinichi’s arms until he relaxed at least enough to loosen the grip he’d gotten on Shinichi’s pajama shirt. “A feeling?” he repeated.

“Because of the animals. Was it really just a coincidence that they hadn’t been loaded onto the plane yet when the bomb went off? They should have been.”

“A coincidence,” Kaito muttered. “Or maybe the bomber just likes animals.”

He didn’t believe it himself though. If Shinichi’s intuition said someone from the troupe was involved, there was likely more to it that they just couldn’t wrap their heads around yet.

The reprieve had been nice, but it was over now. Even with the troupe, he would have to be on his guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUN!! lol
> 
> The eccentric manor house I made up for the “haunted house” case is loosely based on a real place: the manor house of the Gentz family just outside the Northern city limits of Neuruppin.
> 
> I deliberated for a while on whether anything would happen on the drive to that house but I gradually realized that I was partly fighting it because I didn’t want to have Shinichi’s chance to drive on the autobahn taken away. But these kinds of conditions aren’t convenient. They don’t care if you’re traveling, or in the company of your fiancé’s coworkers, or looking forward to something. This shit happens and it’s out of your control and that scene was a natural representation of that. Once I realized that, I decided I needed it.
> 
> And once I decided I needed it, I had to research the mid-point of their route to Neuruppin. I found a Burger King (and a fishing store) in practically the middle of nowhere and I thought EXCELLENT, because I am a terrible person XD


	7. Chapter 7

_Berlin, Germany_

_March_

In Berlin, in the middle of the Spree, was a wedge-shaped slice of land called Museum Island. Kaito hadn’t been particularly interested, so when Shinichi finished up his latest batch of email cases sooner than he’d expected, he decided to go take a look. After all, it was nice to get out a little. And if the place he decided to go happened to be an island with five extremely public, high-security buildings, well, that was surely just coincidence.

He didn’t buy a pass – walking through each of the massive museums would have taken a _lot_ of time and he’d gotten a late start – but he stopped by each one. The buildings themselves were impressive works of art all on their own.

When he reached the northern tip of the island, Shinichi sat down on the steps outside the Bode Museum to check his phone for the nearest location with coffee. He was trying to decide if it was worth paying the entrance fee to get out of the cold and visit the Bode’s café when a familiar, pale trench coat caught his eye.

“Zenigata-keibu?”

The man standing before the center of the wide stretch of stairs turned, peering toward the blocky stone railing where Shinichi was sitting. Shinichi hurried over to him.

“Ah, Kudou Shinichi-kun.” Zenigata nudged the brim of his brown fedora up with a thumb. “Didn’t expect to run into you here.”

“I was actually here taking a break, but are you on a case?”

“Mm,” he agreed. He pulled his phone from his coat pocket and flipped it open to show Shinichi. On the screen was a text: _“This time I’ll be helping myself to Bode’s numismatic collection. Lupin III”_

Shinichi’s adrenaline shot up. A heist. A _heist_. How long had it been? And apparently Lupin was in town, which meant Jigen, Goemon, and… _Mine Fujiko _probably were as well. He shivered with some combination of cold, excitement, anxiety, and guilt. Kaito would _not_ be pleased.

“I know he’ll turn up here sooner or later,” Zenigata was saying, staring up at the museum. “But the building _and_ the numismatic collection are huge. Four thousand coins and medals on display… Say, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help out?”

Shinichi was about to agree – was inclined to feel that the invitation was perfectly normal. After all, the police back home had always asked for his help, even if he’d had to wedge himself into KID cases as Conan’s substitute at first.

But then he realized that he _wasn’t_ back home, and Zenigata… Zenigata shouldn’t be this familiar with him. The inspector might have heard of him, yes, but most likely in the context of the truce with KID, which had kept Zenigata from chasing Lupin to Japan last summer after KID had enlisted Lupin’s help.

“Well,” Shinichi started, like he was considering the offer. Then, on a whim, he locked eyes on a lamppost behind Zenigata and exclaimed, “It’s Lupin!”

“Lupin?!” Zenigata immediately turned to look and Shinichi flipped open the scope on his watch. He didn’t fire though. Zenigata was turned away slightly now, but his head was angled back, eyes abruptly sharp and mischievous. There was a Walther P38 pointed back at Shinichi as well, tucked out of sight of the casual observer under “Zenigata’s” left arm. 

“Didn’t _think_ you’d fall for that,” Shinichi said through a smirk.

“Didn’t think you’d fall for the disguise,” Lupin agreed.

“Well, I hear it’s one of your favorites.”

“LUPIN!”

Lupin turned and Shinichi glanced back and they both saw another Zenigata sprinting toward them. Grinning, Lupin pulled off his mask. “Time to run!”

“No you don’t!” Shinichi lunged and actually managed to get his arms around Lupin, but Lupin slipped free, wriggling out of Shinichi’s grasp like a giant fish. Shinichi was somehow left holding the suit and brown trench coat that had been Lupin’s disguise, and caught just a glimpse of Lupin’s red blazer as he flung a line up to the roof of the museum and zipped away.

“Get back here, Lupin!” Zenigata shouted. He made it to Shinichi’s side and shook his fist at the roof. “Lupin!”

Shinichi was scanning the area for a way around the museum but the building was flush with the river, accessible only by the two bridges reaching out from either side of the front steps, connecting back to the banks of the Spree. He sighed and turned his attention to the phone he had managed to snatch from Lupin during their brief struggle.

“Hey, Zenigata-keibu,” he said. “This notice is for eleven P.M. but what day do you think it will be?” He had Lupin’s text pulled up. It had been sent at exactly eleven the previous night and the only indication in the actual message was “this time”. He showed it to Zenigata.

Zenigata glanced over the message and details then grunted. “I would bet tonight.”

“Hm.” Shinichi handed the phone over to him and his hand went to his chin as he considered the museum, the bundled suit and coat still tucked in the crook of his other arm.

Slowly, Zenigata closed the phone then inspected Shinichi with narrowed eyes. “You look familiar,” he said.

Shinichi couldn’t help it. He let out a laugh and it brought his mind back a bit from the impending heist. “I get that a lot,” he said. “Kudou Shinichi, detective. Nice to meet you, Inspector.”

“Kudou Shinichi, huh?” Zenigata repeated, pensive. “Looks like you gave Lupin a little trouble. How would you like to help me catch a thief?”

Kaito was standing backstage after the finale of the troupe’s most recent show, employing a stoic poker face as he stared down at his phone.

_“Lupin is in town.”_

Well. That was fine. He knew, after all, that Lupin’s group had planned to come find Shinichi at some point. Better to get it over with. What was less good was Shinichi’s _next _text.

_“He’s targeting the Bode Museum tonight. I’m with Zenigata now.”_

_Betrayal_. Kaito wanted to put his hand to his head and throw himself onto a chaise lounge like an actress in a silent film. Shinichi was going to a _heist_. He was going to _someone else’s heist _and he was going _without Kaito_.

Well. That last bit wasn’t exactly true. It wasn’t like he’d added “and you’re not invited”. He’d gone to the trouble of telling Kaito what was going on and where. In fact, maybe it was the exact opposite. Maybe it was an invitation after all.

“Creepy.”

“Eh?” Kaito turned then looked down. Lili was raising an eyebrow at him.

“Is that the poker face your papa taught you? Needs some work. You looked like a statue.”

Kaito put his hands on his hips. “Hey, my poker face is _perfect_, okay? When it needs to be.”

“Uh huh. So what’s going on?” Lili reached for the phone he was holding against his hip and Kaito immediately flitted a few steps back on light toes.

“It’s nothing,” he said too quickly. He was doing it again. Getting too comfortable. It was a harder habit to break than he’d thought it would be. It had only been six months, but the troupe was family in his mind, and poker face had no place among family. And yet… _“I have this feeling that someone from the troupe was involved.” _He trusted Shinichi but… why couldn’t he see them as a threat?

Kaito smiled at Lili. “Awkward relationship stuff,” he said. “That’s all.”

Lili rolled her eyes. “Gross.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take my gross domestic talk elsewhere,” he drawled as an escape. He made to hurry to the green room to grab the rest of his things and collided with Giorgio who’d been standing just out of sight on the other side of one of Lili and Miguel’s trick cabinets. “How long have you been standing there?” Kaito sputtered.

Giorgio had his hands on Kaito’s shoulders, either to steady Kaito or himself, but he let go quickly and took a step back. “Sorry, Kite. I was just coming to check in with Lili on the new blazer.” He headed past Kaito and knelt by Lili, the two of them diving right in with Giorgio tugging a little at hems and Lili raising and lowering her arms in different directions. Kaito hesitated, glancing back, then slipped away to the green room.

_Maybe this will have to be my new strategy, _he thought as he went. _Get them to start underestimating me. Get _them _to let their guards down. …Never mind that I really didn’t_ _notice him walk up. Ugh, am I just getting rusty? So soon?_

With a sigh Kaito pushed into the green room and gathered up his things. He was near to bursting with frustration and inadequacy, but he knew something that just might help…

The Bode’s numismatic display of coins, seals, medals, and minting tools was on the second floor of the museum and consisted of four small rooms all in a row along the West-side outer wall. The corridor along that wall connected the four rooms and was the only means of exit or entrance from any of them. Directly across from each room, the corridor had four large windows that overlooked a straight drop down to the Spree.

As far as areas to guard went, Shinichi had seen much worse. All vulnerable points were on one side and in a straight line so that a guard on one end of the corridor could see every point of entry through to the opposite side. With two officers (courtesy of the Bundeskriminalamt and Interpol) on either end, two in each room, and Zenigata prowling the corridor in irregular patterns, it _seemed_ a sufficiently tight net. Shinichi (and Zenigata, if Shinichi had to guess) knew better.

The simplicity of the whole setup was nagging at Shinichi’s mind. Not only that, Lupin’s warning message had been vague. The target was the collection but there were some four thousand pieces on display. True, most of them were small, but all together they were heavy, and gathering them all up in an enclosed space with fourteen people keeping watch seemed impractical to say the least. Not that “practical” was a word he’d associate with Lupin anyway, so why did it feel so… _off_?

Shinichi let out a sigh and tapped another search into his phone. Since running into Zenigata, Shinichi had been mostly researching Lupin, trying to get a handle on his usual patterns for heists and theft, but his mind rebelled at the task. Lupin and KID were similar and yet so different, and trying to get his mind and instincts to readjust to a non-KID opponent felt wrong in every sense.

There really was no substitute for a KID heist after all.

_And maybe that’s the only thing that’s off about it, _Shinichi thought._ Maybe I’m looking for something that’s not there. If it were KID, there’d be something…_

His next search focused on the collection. He didn’t know much about it – it was still possible he was missing something.

He found a hint of that fairly quickly.

“Zenigata-keibu.” Shinichi waved Zenigata over from the other side of the two officers blocking off the corridor. “I’m going downstairs to check out the study room. Let me know if anything happens up here.”

“The study room?” Zenigata repeated, but Shinichi had already taken off.

_Half a million, _he thought as he hurried down the red carpeted stairs under the small dome at the back of the museum. _This collection has half a million items but only four thousand are on display. The rest… _

He rushed down another flight of stairs and stopped, staring down a long line of cabinets imbedded in white walls under whiter lights. Each one had over a hundred thin drawers with little brass knobs flanking little brass plaques. Shinichi knew immediately that the inside of each one was inlaid with coins nested into sets of round divots, and he knew because Lupin had several of them open. He was standing there looking them over with a contemplative but happy expression, his hand hovering back and forth like he was considering which chocolate to pluck out of a box.

“You’re missing the party,” Shinichi said. He tucked his hands into his pockets and headed down the row toward Lupin. “Everyone’s upstairs waiting for you.”

“They had an ambush ready down here,” Lupin replied. He shrugged then selected a coin and hummed a little, holding it up in the light. His gloves were pure white and a bit fuzzy – it struck Shinichi as odd before he realized they were probably the ones from the study room, specifically there for handling the collection.

Shinichi leaned against the nearest cabinet without drawers sticking out. “So what brings you to Berlin?” he asked.

Lupin scoffed. “I could ask you the same.”

“You already know why _I’m _here.”

“And you know why I am, too.”

Shinichi considered that while he watched Lupin pocket a few of the coins. “I guess. Did Mine-san pass on my thanks for–” He stopped short, quickly gathered himself, and hedged, “Your help, before?”

Lupin clearly didn’t miss his hesitation, but he didn’t address it either. “Yeah. And she said you promised to meet with her. You’re not going back on that, right?”

Shinichi shoved away from the cabinet to face Lupin in a wave of defensiveness. “I _tried_ to meet with her before we left Japan.”

“So you _are_ backing out?” Lupin shook his head solemnly and opened a few more drawers. “And I thought you were a trustworthy guy.”

“You are literally stealing from a museum right now; you don’t get to call me untrustworthy.”

“So you’ll meet with her, then.”

“I–” He cut off again at the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. The realization struck even before he pulled it out and saw Zenigata’s name on the screen. _It’s past eleven. Zenigata should have realized before now that Lupin wasn’t coming to the display upstairs. Why hasn’t he charged down here yet? _He caught Lupin’s eye and glanced a silent question which Lupin answered with a raised eyebrow and a one-shoulder shrug. Shinichi answered the phone.

“Zenigata-keibu–?”

“Kudou-kun, what are you doing?” Zenigata demanded in his ear. “Lupin’s obviously not down there. Bring the ambush squad and get up here to help us!”

Shinichi’s adrenaline shot up. “Help you?” he demanded back. “What’s going on?” Lupin slid up next to Shinichi and leaned in to listen.

“Lupin’s stealing the coins,” Zenigata said, and the emphasis conveyed that he was actively doubting Shinichi’s intelligence. “They keep disappearing one by one right out from under our noses and we can’t figure out how he’s doing it, so get up here. We need more eyes.”

The call cut off and Shinichi and Lupin both glanced at each other in synchronized confusion. Then Shinichi dropped his phone with an aggressive _clatter _in the quiet study room and pounced on Lupin.

Across from the cabinets imbedded in the wall were a few free-standing cabinets acting as end caps for short perpendicular rows of the same. Lupin’s back collided with one and Shinichi grabbed onto his face with both hands.

“…Huh,” Shinichi muttered, tugging.

Lupin shoved him back the moment he started to let go. “What was that for?!”

“To see if it was really you!” Shinichi shot back.

“Who else would it be?!”

“Ver–!” His hands snapped into fists. “No one,” he amended, abrupt and stubborn. “Just… KID, or–” He stopped again and Lupin had the same look of sudden realization on his face.

“Is Kaitou KID upstairs stealing things in my name?” Lupin said slowly. Dangerously. “_Again_?”

“Uh…”

“That’s it. You’re comin’ with me.”

“What–?”

There was a sharp hiss and Shinichi’s eyes shot down to the canister at his feet. He could see the gas releasing in a misty white fog and it wasn’t the same – wasn’t KID’s pillowy pink clouds or the invisible seeping of the gas feeds in that basement room – but it crept into his mind the same way those gases had before he’d grown resistant. Something seized in his chest and he actually gasped, making everything worse.

Shinichi staggered back and collided painfully with the half-open drawers on the wall cabinets. A few coins were knocked loose and they pinged against the floor as he covered his mouth and made to run, but nothing – not the pain or the noise or the logic-gripping _fear_ – could keep the fog from closing in.

“Oi, oi!”

Shinichi heard Lupin calling out, but only distantly. His focus was on the stairs ahead but the floor was tipping and his legs felt weak. They gave out suddenly and his shoulder crashed up against the cabinets again before he collapsed to the floor, his breathing spiraling out of control.

By the time Lupin ran to his side, Shinichi had blacked out.

He woke in a bed. He felt nauseous and fuzzy and his back and shoulder twinged with fresh bruises, the source of which he couldn’t readily remember. All he knew was that he’d blacked out and now he was waking in some unfamiliar, brightly lit place.

Panic _reared_. Someone was standing beside the bed and Shinichi shoved himself up all at once. He threw himself at the man, tackling him to the floor, and immediately got a Smith and Wesson six-round revolver jabbed into his chest for his trouble. The man hesitated, though.

Shinichi didn’t. He clawed the gun out of the man’s grip and turned it on him.

“Oi, oi, oi!” Jigen shouted beneath Shinichi. But he wasn’t looking at him – he was looking past him at Goemon who had darted behind Shinichi, his sword resting over Shinichi’s shoulder, cold metal just barely touching against Shinichi’s neck.

“Okay, let’s all just cool off here,” Lupin said from somewhere out of Shinichi’s immediate line of sight. “Hey kid,” he added, gentler and with a hint of amusement. “You don’t really want to shoot Papa, do you?”

For a few more seconds no one moved, and Shinichi’s harsh breathing was loud in the quiet room. Slowly though, things came into focus. He’d been at a heist. _Lupin _had taken him, and the guy he had tackled was Jigen Daisuke. Shinichi kept one hand steady on the gun, pushing into Jigen’s chest, but with the other he reached for Jigen’s face to check for a mask.

“Shit,” he breathed out, and the gun slipped from his hand. Jigen grabbed it and shuffled out from under Shinichi as Shinichi dropped back, sitting on the floor at Goemon’s feet. The sound of the sword sheathing behind him had a ring of finality and the tension broke.

Shinichi brought his knees up and folded over them, counting out breaths at what he hoped was a steady and reasonable pace. A hand settled on his shoulder.

“The hell did you do to the kid, Lupin?” Jigen asked, close at Shinichi’s right.

“Nothing!”

“He didn’t do anything,” Shinichi agreed quickly but faintly. “I’m fine.”

“Oh really? This is what ‘fine’ looks like?”

Shinichi’s head snapped up. Mine Fujiko was leaning over him, her hands fisted on her hips and her lipstick cutting a skeptical angle to match one raised, sculpted eyebrow. He swallowed.

“Er, hello Mine-san.”

She continued to stare down at him, considering. Then, all at once, she grabbed him under his arms, hauled him to his feet, and squeezed him into a crushing hug. “It really _is_ you! My little detective is all grown up~!” One hand slid up into his hair, long nails dragging against his scalp. The other smoothed down his back, then down farther for a very firm and definite grab of his ass. Shinichi and Lupin let out identical affronted squawks and Shinichi shoved out of Fujiko’s grasp hard enough that he bumped into the bed behind him. He bounced onto the mattress and stared up at her, horrified and pink-faced.

Fujiko laughed. “Are you really still so shy? I thought KID would have worked that out of your system by now.” She finished it with a wink and Shinichi’s face felt like it was on fire. “But really, Kudou-kun,” Fujiko went on in a purr. She slid onto the bed next to him and he scrambled to the opposite side. Lupin sat pointedly between them but Fujiko just leaned around him to look at Shinichi. “I haven’t seen you since the Vespanian mineral theft! And now you’re dating the Kaitou KID? We have so much catching up to do – you have to tell me everything~!”

“Never mind that,” Lupin insisted. “How’d you get to be Kudou Shinichi again? It’s permanent, right?”

“And what happened with that organization last summer?” Jigen added.

Shinichi faltered. All three of them, and Goemon as well, were watching him expectantly. He felt his body tensing with the temptation to physically recoil from their questions. Resisting that urge took most of his focus and he barely managed to breathe out, “That’s a long story.”

He pretended not to notice the worried glances Lupin and his crew exchanged. The quiet threatened to stretch, Shinichi growing more anxious by the moment, but Goemon broke it.

“I’ll make some tea,” he said, and turned to head for a small kitchen setup along one wall of what Shinichi was only just realizing was a narrow studio apartment.

“Hey, yeah, what do we have to eat around here?” Lupin asked loudly. He got up and followed Goemon over, the tension fully broken again, and Shinichi let out a sigh. Jigen was still watching him critically, but Jigen always was.

“Hey,” he said, and Shinichi managed not to jump. “Get it together, kid. We’re still gonna ask, and this is a safe place to talk.” He nodded across the room. “Bathroom’s on the left by the front door there. Don’t worry about anything until after dinner. You drink?” he added as an afterthought.

Shinichi shook his head and got slowly to his feet, just a little unsteady. He felt wrung out again, even without having fully succumbed to a panic attack this time.

Jigen scoffed out a laugh. “You should consider it,” he said, then went to join Lupin and Goemon.

Shinichi cast a quick glance back over his shoulder at Fujiko who seemed to be suddenly and deliberately interested in her nails, then made his way to the bathroom. He could get it together. They deserved some answers.

They ate – a feast of instant ramen – and Shinichi managed to convey enough vagaries about his life since he’d last saw them to satisfy their curiosity and worry, and to quiet his sense of obligation toward them.

Now the sun was brightening the curtains on the one window by the bed and Shinichi was only just realizing he didn’t have his phone.

“What time is it?” he muttered. “I bet Kaito’s pissed. I should probably get home.”

“Oh. Here.” Lupin pulled Shinichi’s phone from a pocket and handed it over to him. It was turned off. Shinichi cringed as it booted, wondering what kind of text-based tirade he was in for.

Underneath the notification for six missed calls, his phone gave a count of unread messages. There were only four:

_“Tantei-kun, where did you go?”_

_“Hey, Shinichi, answer me.”_

_“I promise I’m not mad just tell me where you are.”_

_“Lupin, if you’re reading this, I’m coming for you.” _

Shinichi swallowed nervously. “Uh, guys? I think we’re in trouble.” He turned the phone for Lupin to see, and in a fit of KID-appropriate timing the lights in the apartment went out. Shinichi saw Lupin move in the glow of his screen, felt the cold shock of an open-window breeze, heard the clatter of a chair and the sharp keen of a sword unsheathing. All of that in an instant, but then, almost hesitantly, the sound of three guns being cocked.

Shinichi fumbled for the phone’s flashlight and threw it down on the little table, letting the light shine up and reflect off the ceiling. Between that and the rising sun through wavering curtains, he could see most of the room. He aimed his watch behind Fujiko’s back and fired. The two guns she’d been holding hit the floor just before she did.

“Fujiko-chan!” The moment of distraction was more than enough. KID had Lupin stripped, rolled in a blanket, tied in with scarves, and gagged within seconds.

Shinichi spared only a moment to acknowledge Goemon lying asleep on the floor, his sheath at his side but his sword missing, before he launched himself between the only two other people left standing in the room. He held his hands out to either side, blocking Jigen’s revolver and KID’s card gun.

“Okay, that’s enough, you can stop now,” Shinichi said, but he could hear even in the hesitance of his own voice that it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Not as long as he’s armed,” KID said.

“Same here,” Jigen replied. KID scoffed.

Shinichi let out a groan. “Come on,” he tried, addressing Jigen. “You know he just came here to get me. Put the gun down.”

“If he just came to get you, why didn’t he come to the front door?”

“Because I saw the security footage of Lupin _kidnapping Shinichi_.” The response was loud, harsh, and agitated. Despite the standard black outfit that Shinichi had always associated with KID in stealth-mode, this was _Kaito_. A little chill shook down Shinichi’s spine.

“Oji-san,” he tried again, turning fully to Jigen, hands raised. “We’re not a threat–”

“You pulled a gun on me, kid,” Jigen interrupted. “_My _gun. That’s damn scary.”

Shinichi could feel Kaito’s eyes on his back. His stomach twisted. “I didn’t mean to–”

“And if you can do that without meaning to, what the hell could you do if you tried.” Jigen’s gun was still steady, his arms as fixed as the metal barrel. “Bad enough Lupin trusts Fujiko. What do we do if a detective with inside information changes his mind about us?”

“You plan to just shoot us both then?” Kaito asked.

“BLAH! It’s finally off!”

Three sets of eyes shot down to Lupin where he was wriggling on the floor like a caterpillar. He’d managed to scoot up next to a kitchen cabinet, knock it open with his chin, and hook the corner on the gag to work it free. He grinned up at them from the floor. “Do I get a say in this?”

“No,” Jigen said, but already almost all the steel had eased out of his voice. “Shut up.”

“Aw come on, Jigen. You were looking forward to seeing the detective brat all month. You really gonna shoot him?”

“Maybe.”

“He saved my liiiiife,” Lupin pointed out, rolling away from the cabinets as he dragged out the word.

“Another reason to shoot him,” Jigen muttered.

In an impressive show of strength, balance, and speed, Lupin was very suddenly vertical, still thoroughly wrapped and perched on his toes. He was also standing between Jigen and Shinichi. “Well, maybe you can just help me out of this first,” Lupin suggested.

“You wearing pants?” Jigen asked.

“Nope.”

“Then no.”

Shinichi let out a heavy sigh and rubbed at his forehead with both hands. “Okay. Just… whatever. Ka– KID. Show of good faith. Could you let him go?” He turned back toward Kaito and gestured vaguely at Lupin. “It’s been a long night. Let’s just go home.”

Kaito still looked uncomfortable. Shinichi moved to his side without a thought and stood close, his hand wrapping around Kaito’s black glove. The card gun finally lowered a little. “Yeah,” he murmured. “All right.” A few quick shots, too fast to follow, and the scarves were cut. The blanket slumped to the floor and Lupin stretched his arms obnoxiously, standing there in nothing but a pair of blue and white striped boxers.

“Ah, freedom!”

Jigen finally holstered his revolver and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Put some clothes on.”

“Spoilsport.”

Kaito threw one last glare Lupin’s way then tugged on Shinichi’s hand, heading for the door. “Come on, Tantei-kun,” he said, and he sounded tired.

“Ah–” Lupin started, but he didn’t get the chance to say anything. Jigen cut him off.

“Just a minute,” he said, firmly enough that Kaito did not feel comfortable turning his back on him to walk to the door. “You two are a mess, you know that? You _both_ are, and that’s a problem. Here’s some advice you won’t listen to: Find an outside perspective.”

“What, like you?” Kaito scoffed, glare and voice both acidic.

“No,” Jigen said. “Someone you trust. And if there’s nobody you trust then maybe you should give up the life before you hurt somebody.” He nodded toward the door. “Now scram.”

When Jigen turned his back on them to prod Goemon with his foot, Lupin took his chance and sidled over. Much to Kaito’s displeasure, he snuck an arm around Shinichi’s shoulders and leaned in.

“He says all that,” Lupin said under his breath. “But you know we’ve still got your back any time, kiddo.”

“Heh. Thanks, Lupin-san.”

He leaned in even closer and lowered his voice even more. “Do yourself a favor though and try not to need us for a while. Just… stay outta trouble, okay?”

Kaito raised an eyebrow. “Has anyone ever said that to you?”

“Yep,” Lupin replied.

“And?”

“I told them I’d rather die.”

“He did,” Jigen agreed offhand.

For the first time since Kaito had found that security footage, a genuine smirk crossed his lips. “Right. Good night then, Lupin.” KID tipped his black baseball cap and he and Shinichi headed out into the apartment hall, hand in hand.

“Are you okay?”

Kaito had been expecting it. To be honest, he’d been expecting it a lot sooner than now, when they’d already made it back home and were tucked into bed, determinedly ignoring the sunlight outside.

“I’m okay, I guess,” he answered. “Just… I wasn’t prepared for it, you know? I should have been. When Lupin’s around, kidnapping isn’t _that_ unlikely. And I’d provoked him, too, but I just… When I _saw _it–”

“I know,” Shinichi murmured. He curled a little closer. “And I _freaked out_ at just a little sleep gas. …Maybe they were right.”

“Hmm,” Kaito said skeptically, with a wry twist to his lips. “About which part?”

“Not the staying out of trouble part,” Shinichi laughed. “But… getting an outside perspective. Maybe it would help.”

Kaito hummed again, this time in agreement. “Okay, so who do we trust?”

Shinichi was quiet for a while, considering. He didn’t believe he’d be able to truly relax trying to talk to someone over the phone or online but… “We’re headed to France next week,” he said. “How ‘bout Mirla Romain-sensei?”

The quiet stretched this time as Kaito silently examined that solution from all angles. Shinichi took the lack of immediate rejection as a good sign.

Eventually, Kaito said, “Yeah, I think that could be okay. We should try it.”

This last was said with more determination than Shinichi had expected. He smiled and gave Kaito a squeeze, arms already wrapped around him. “Sounds good. Let’s get in touch with her… after we get some sleep.”

“Yeah. Can you believe we’re already hitting our fourth stop on the tour next week? It’s flying by.”

“It’s been busy,” Shinichi agreed sleepily. He was already starting to doze, warm and comfortable where he was cuddled against Kaito’s chest, but then Kaito shifted a little, reaching for something over the edge of the bed. He heard the jingle of metal on metal.

“Guess I better get these back to the museum before we leave.”

Shinichi shook off sleep enough to raise his head. Kaito was holding up two small sacks – the type you’d see thrown over shoulders in caricatures of burglars.

“Took Lupin’s haul while we were there,” he explained with a grin.

Shinichi blinked, then folded over Kaito again, laughing. He was still chuckling when he inched up to give Kaito a kiss.

“Good work, KID.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is one of my favs I think. One of them. : )
> 
> P.S. For anyone who follows Lupin the Third outside of his appearances in DCMK, I am aware of what happened at the end of the last episode of part 5 but I am willfully ignoring it.


	8. Chapter 8

_Paris, France_

_Mid-March_

*

“My answer is no,” Fernet said firmly. “Your plan violates direct orders. We’re lean enough zese days so I don’t intend to report you, but if you bring trouble my way I’ll take you out myself. Give it up before you regret it.” He cut off the call.

A pause, then Bishop hurled her phone against the wall with a sharp _crack_ and a clatter.

“Mummy?”

Bishop turned sharply. “Mary. Come here, love. It looks like your mum needs to go to France for a bit…”

*

“Are you sure you’re okay, Kite?”

Kaito looked up from the reflective glass of the monocle resting in the palm of his white glove. It was just a prop – another piece of the costume Giorgio had put together for the special Arsène Lupin-themed escape trick Kaito and Jody had planned for the Paris leg of the tour. He settled it with determination over his eye and straightened the shiny black top hat on his fastidiously smoothed hair. “Well of course, milady. Whyever do you ask?”

Jody laughed a little at that but Kaito could tell that her question had been a serious one. She didn’t intend to let it go on the grounds of staying in character. “You haven’t really seemed like yourself since the incident in that house last month.” She moved closer and put her hands on his shoulders, smoothing out the black tuxedo jacket. “Practicing a trick like this with just us is one thing,” she murmured. “But an audience is a whole other layer of vulnerability. If you’re even a little unsure, we shouldn’t do it.”

Kaito let out a breath and smiled at her, small and genuine. She had more than enough cause for worry. They’d still been in London back when Jody had suggested adding this trick to the mix for the Paris run – a trick that required an assistant to apply restraints that Kaito would escape from. He’d agreed at the time, but after hearing Shinichi’s concerns about the troupe Kaito had put a condition on it. Hiding behind the circumstances of his father’s death, he’d told Jody he would only be comfortable if _she_ played the role of the officer locking “Lupin” up. By design, it sounded as though he simply needed the comfort and judgment of a veteran magician close by. Truthfully, he needed the one person in the troupe whose history and innocence he could be nearly certain of.

“I’m all right,” Kaito said, and he did mean it – at least in terms of being all right with the trick. “I promise.”

The lead up to the escape portion of the trick kept along the lines of Kaito’s more usual show aspects. With a quick and simple set change, Kaito, with his gentleman’s cane and white boutonnière, became the original Arsène Lupin strolling down a twentieth century Paris street. As he went, he surveyed various small displays set up across the stage, using sleight-of-hand to vanish paintings from their frames and snatch costume jewelry from their cases. He could feel Shinichi’s eyes on him from third-row center as he held a large glass ruby up to the stage lights long enough for Jody, costumed in an old-fashioned police uniform, to enter the scene behind him. His smirk was all too real.

“I’m afraid your antics are at an end, Monsieur Lupin,” Jody said, and her French on a normal day-to-day wasn’t great, but she could deliver an accurate and convincing line with the best of them.

The rest was up to Kaito. He swept a bow, removing his top hat as he did. “Of course, officer,” he said. “If I’ve been caught then there’s nothing to do but confess to my crimes and face my punishment. But first…” He gave the audience a dazzling smile and reached into his hat. One by one, he pulled out every prop he’d vanished thus far and piled them on the stage while Jody crossed her arms and looked disapproving. He finished it off by placing his cane and the hat on top of the pile. “With my compliments,” he said, then turned to let Jody cuff his hands behind his back.

The next step was subtle but the audience caught on quickly with excited murmurs and laughter as Jody added numerous additional restraints from nowhere. A padlocked chain was added to Kaito’s arms, another to his legs. She added ropes next, high enough on his arms to be uncomfortable, surely, and more around his knees. Each item had its locks and strength tested and shown to the audience as she went.

The final piece was a heavy clasp attached to a sturdy cable that was lowered down from above the stage. Jody latched it to the restraints around Kaito’s ankles then took a deliberate step back. With a little shudder of the stage, a cage started to lower, and, as it did, the cable attached to Kaito’s ankles began to rise up through the bars.

In the audience, Shinichi cringed a little, unconsciously biting his lip as Kaito crouched then curled onto his back, allowing the transition from right-side-up to upside-down to pass smoothly. He made it look easy. Shinichi rolled his eyes and let out a breath.

When the cage finally settled into place, Kaito was hanging from his ankles in the middle of it, still smiling serenely as Jody leaned an arm against the bars to look inside.

“Backup is on the way,” she said, then very deliberately went to stand all the way to stage right with her back to Kaito as she checked a pocket watch. By the time the watch snapped closed a moment later, the handcuffs had already hit the stage.

“Now then,” Kaito said. “This pesky padlock is next.” His picks were already at work and Shinichi knew the most difficult thing for Kaito in this scenario was slowing himself down enough that the audience could tell he was picking the locks rather than just having them mysteriously fall away. No one would believe they’d been locked in the first place if he picked them at his normal speed.

Once the padlock popped open, it only took some wiggling for the chains around his wrists to loosen and coil free onto the stage beneath him, but his arms were still tied at the elbows. Ropes, Shinichi knew, were more difficult than any lock for him. Still, it was amazing what Kaito could do with nothing but patience, confidence, and flexibility. In hardly any time, he managed to work and shimmy the coils down (or rather up, in his current state) toward his wrists where his arms were thinner. They slackened, giving him room to slip an arm free. He dropped the loosened loops of rope into the pile of chains and handcuffs below his head.

At about that moment, sounds started playing from somewhere off to stage right – sounds of hurried footsteps and distant shouting. Jody’s “backup” was meant to arrive soon.

Kaito was unbothered though, even as the sounds got gradually louder. With his hands now free, he reached down and reclaimed the rope, freeing the knots so he could tie the padlock onto one end. He tossed it up through the bars across the top of the cage and used the resulting loop to haul his upper body upwards, bringing him more parallel with his feet. When he was high enough, he grabbed onto the bar.

With his weight finally supported by something other than his leg restraints, Kaito was able to unhook the clasp there. His feet swung down under him and he let go of the bar, landing in a half-crouch, his legs still held stiff by the ropes and chains. A bit of applause started up but he gave the audience a grin and put his finger to his lips, nodding over toward Jody who was actively looking into the “distance” in the wings.

“Ah, here they come!” she said, and Kaito was about to get back to it when he noticed, just under the glare of the spotlights as he untied the ropes around his knees, a familiar face a few rows behind Shinichi. It took a bit of poker face to keep his delight from showing.

The second padlock sprung as easily as the first and Kaito was finally free of all his restraints. He tugged his tuxedo straight, nose in the air and monocle still snuggly in place, then strolled over to a door in the cage, reaching around to pick the lock. The door swung open just as a small group of extras in the same old fashioned police uniform as Jody appeared on the edge of the stage with her. Kaito picked up his cane and placed his top hat back on his head.

“Arsène Lupin has been caught!” Jody announced to the newcomers, and she turned to gesture proudly at the cage. Kaito was standing in the open door, leaning on his cane. He glanced behind him.

“Ah,” he said. “Well, I _was_. However, now that I’m not, it would be poor manners to take up any more of your time, so I’ll bid you good night.” He tipped his hat toward the officers. “And to you,” he added, addressing the audience. “Sweet dreams.” He swept a deep bow then disappeared in a soft curl of smooth grey smoke.

The curtain lowered to the sound of enthusiastic applause.

“Shinichi!”

Shinichi jumped when Kaito came running out from backstage. He’d expected to be waiting considerably longer for Kaito to get changed and wrap things up. But Kaito _hadn’t_ gotten changed – the hat and monocle were gone, his hair back to normal, and the stage makeup scrubbed off, but he was still wearing “Lupin’s” tuxedo, and a goofy grin. He grabbed both of Shinichi’s hands.

“Hey,” Shinichi laughed. “Something up?”

“I saw somebody in the audience I want you to meet!” He was already dragging Shinichi away from the stage and up the aisles of house seating. “I hope she hasn’t left yet.”

In the lobby, the crowd had mostly dissipated, but there were two women with a little girl standing off to the side near the theatre doors. Kaito waved and hurried over.

“Kaito!” Ruby Jones opened her arms when she saw him and Kaito met her with two quick cheek kisses.

“Ruby,” Kaito said warmly. “How have you been?”

Shinichi wondered vaguely if it was his inexperience with French that made the question sound so earnest, but Kaito’s eyes were intent on Ruby, his focus on her subtle but certain in his posture, and Ruby’s reply was distinctly reassuring.

“Good,” she said. “I’m doing well.”

It seemed to Shinichi to be an answer Kaito had needed. Once he had it, everything about him relaxed and he moved back to Shinichi’s side, slipping an arm around his waist.

“Let me introduce you,” he said. “Shinichi, this is Ruby Jones. She’s an insurance agent. Uh…” At the look on Shinichi’s face he repeated the job title in Japanese. “I met her once when Aoko and I were bringing lunch to Inspector Nakamori. We hit it off right away.

“Ruby, this is Shinichi Kudou, my fiancé.”

Ruby’s smile brightened and for a moment Shinichi wondered, at a loss, about the exact customs of cheek kissing in France. But Ruby held out her hand instead, so Shinichi took it and she shook with a firm grip. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Monsieur Kudou. And congratulations on the engagement.”

“Likewise,” Shinichi said. “And thank you.”

Ruby reached over then and linked arms with the woman beside her. “This is my wife, Audrey, and our daughter, Beryl.”

Beryl looked to be around two years old and around two hundred percent _done_ with everything. She was cramming her face hard against Audrey’s shoulder, two pudgy little death grips digging into Audrey’s jacket. The low, persistent whine Beryl was making, getting very gradually louder under their conversation, gave Shinichi the same feeling as a ticking time bomb only worse because this one he didn’t know how to defuse.

“Not a big fan of late nights and magic shows, I’d guess,” Kaito said with a soft smile.

Audrey bounced her a little, clearly trying to shift some of Beryl’s weight without making things worse. Audrey was built tall and sturdy, but it looked like she’d been holding Beryl for a while. Ruby reached over and combed her nails through Beryl’s short dark curls.

“It’s been a long day for her. A little too much going on.”

“I wouldn’t want to add to it, but–” A silk rose appeared, the petals a pale blue. “I’d like for her to have this, if you don’t mind.”

“Thank you,” Audrey said as Ruby accepted. “I’m pretty sure she’ll be thrilled once she’s not so tired.” She shifted again and the whine rose in pitch for a few tense, sustained seconds. All four of them seemed to freeze, waiting for a full-blown scream, but Beryl subsided like she was too tired to make the effort. Kaito and Shinichi let out a synchronized breath.

“We… probably shouldn’t keep you,” Kaito offered casually.

Ruby smirked. “My, my. Is the great magician scared of a little tantrum?”

“Let’s see… She’s _your_ daughter. So yes.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Audrey said. “She takes after _me_.” Her grin said that was considerably worse. With the adoring look Ruby was giving her, Kaito could believe it.

They said goodnight and Kaito and Shinichi saw the three of them safely off into a cab.

Later that night, after Kaito had finished up his after-show work and returned with Shinichi to their Paris rooms, there was a text on KID’s white flip phone.

_“Does he know?”_

Kaito beamed and quickly texted back, _“About me? Yes. About you? No. Audrey?” _

The response was just as quick. _“Me? Yes. You? No.”_

Kaito sent a grinning KID doodle, then a quick warning. _“He’s a detective, you know. And you texted KID shortly after we parted ways on a phone only a very specific set of people have the number to.” _

_“I’m not worried.” _The message came through with a picture of Chat Noir’s trademark mustachioed cat face and Kaito closed the phone with a smile.

Shinichi was watching him.

“Don’t worry,” Kaito said. “It wasn’t Nakamori-keibu or the Task Force.”

“I didn’t think anyone else had the number,” Shinichi replied, blatantly casual.

“Heh.” Kaito stepped up to him and slipped an arm around his waist, nuzzling a kiss against his cheek. “I’ve used it to call a few people as KID. They have the number now, too.”

“Hmm. This is one of those things you don’t want me thinking too hard about, isn’t it.”

“You know me so well~” Kaito purred, and licked slowly up the side of Shinichi’s neck.

“A distraction?” Shinichi laughed.

“If you like~”

“Heh.” He pulled Kaito more fully against him and caught his earlobe gently between his teeth. “Sure, why not.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for graphic depictions of traumatic fire in this chapter. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns or if you'd like more information before reading.

_Paris, France_

_April_

Kaito and Shinichi did not meet with Mirla Romain at the hospital. Theirs was an unofficial appointment, after all, so they went out to Mirla’s country house. The place was painstakingly orderly and filled with antiques from the rugs to the chandeliers. Mirla led them to a corner sunroom, the two outside walls entirely made up of windows, and flapped her hand at a small velvet couch where they obediently sat. She settled in an uncomfortable-looking armchair across from them, one ankle tucked up underneath her, and flapped again expectantly.

“Well, zen,” she said – in Japanese, they’d decided, for Shinichi’s sake. “Go on. What is zis about.”

“Uh,” Shinichi murmured. He’d felt so accomplished getting this far – asking for help, and coming to see her – but now that they were here, he didn’t know how to start.

“Perspective,” Kaito said. The word sounded confident, but his bent posture and uncertain glance toward Shinichi said otherwise.

“Mm hm,” Mirla hummed. Her flapping hand was circling now, like she was trying to sweep in information. “Perspective on what?”

“Just…” Shinichi cast around for a word that fit but ended up sighing, “Everything.”

Mirla’s lips pursed. “I do not do _everything_. I do not even do _zis _thing. I am not zis kind of doctor. But zis you know. Still you are ‘ere.” She took a moment to fold her other leg up onto the seat of the armchair and started again.

“You each ‘ave a picture zat only you can see. Ze rest of us, we ‘ave some idea of what it looks like, but no idea what we are missing from it. You tell what I am missing. Zen I give perspective.”

Shinichi glanced to Kaito, clearly hopeful, so Kaito took the lead. “Well, I think we were fine… up until last summer…”

It hadn’t taken long for Mirla to decide, in no uncertain terms, that she would need to meet with them separately (and that they would each have to bring her chocolates when they did because their lives were just that depressing).

It was a few days later and Kaito was there now, leaving Shinichi with a golden opportunity to stay out all night working his latest case.

It was an interesting one. Unlike the straightforward deductions or puzzle-solving that many of his online cases erred toward, this one would actually require some in-person investigation, and possibly even a confrontation with a culprit. Shinichi was more excited than he should have been about that last part. He made a mental note to bring that up to Mirla when it was his turn to meet with her as he walked up to the front doors of his client’s hotel.

Carol Keating was from London, in Paris on a business trip. Every night when she’d return to the hotel, the lift would stop and open on the eighth floor before continuing up to the fourteenth. No one was ever waiting there. No one was ever in the car with her when it happened. The one time another person did happen to be on the lift with her, the car _didn’t _stop, and that was when it started to get to her. She’d asked other guests and hotel staff but no one seemed to know what she meant. It wasn’t a particular car, and it was only happening to her.

Shinichi arrived at the hotel before Carol was due to return. He stayed in the lobby, watching the lights on the elevator banks as the cars carried people up and down. None of them seemed to make any extra stops from what he could tell.

Shortly before eight o’clock, when Carol usually returned, Shinichi went up to the eighth floor to check things out. What he found was a perfectly normal hotel hallway. It wasn’t empty, it wasn’t bustling. The lifts were in use as much as they weren’t as people came and went in ones and twos, here and there. He deduced all he could about each person he saw as he wandered past them in the hallway, but nothing was striking him as odd. Not until eight-thirty came and went and he hadn’t heard from Carol.

He checked his site’s messenger app one last time then headed for the lifts. Half an hour wasn’t much of a delay, but to not hear from her on the day she knew he’d come to investigate… She’d been uneasy. She’d gone as far as to hire a private detective to look into the matter despite the fact that she was only in Paris another week at the most. She wouldn’t have blown him off.

The lift took him straight to the fourteenth floor with no stops. The hallway was empty, but as he approached Carol’s room he saw that the door was unlatched. He paused, listened, then pushed the door open into the room.

Still no sound, and no movement. The hotel room was somewhat cramped. The main area straight ahead looked to be mostly filled with a queen bed, the covers of which were smooth and neatly tucked from what he could see. He hesitated again, listening hard, then pulled out of his shoes. He left one jammed under the heavy door to keep it standing open just in case then padded quietly inside.

The illusion of a normal, empty room shattered violently five steps in. First was the soaked carpet – some clear liquid seeping through Shinichi’s socks as he reached the bed. Second was the oppressive, gaseous smell in the air, concentrated just there and not yet reaching toward the open door. Third was the tall, thin man in all black lying dead on the floor on the opposite side of the bed, his throat slashed open and blood splattered and puddled in the carpet under the window.

Shinichi had frozen after those five small steps. He recognized the smell of the gasoline, knew it couldn’t have been poured long ago, and could see the glint of the still-wet blood on the corpse from where he stood. Whoever had done this couldn’t be far… And Carol was nowhere to be seen.

Heart hammering, Shinichi edged back from where the gasoline was concentrated and peeked into the bathroom and closet. “Miss Keating?” he called with forced calm. “Are you here?”

No reply, and no evidence that she’d returned. No evidence, in fact, that anyone had been staying in this room… Shinichi swallowed hard, covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and moved in toward the body. If the place was covered in gasoline, the murderer likely had plans to destroy any evidence with fire. Which meant there was evidence there to find. He pulled out his phone, took a few pictures, then brought up the keypad to dial 112. He stopped short at the metallic ring of a lighter opening.

There was no time to process. The fumes from the gasoline went up in a rolling wave of flame between him and the dark silhouette by the door. Then everything was on fire.

From one second to the next, Shinichi was on the floor, coughing and gasping as the air itself combusted. Fire engulfed his feet, climbed eagerly over his clothes. He reared up on his knees and flailed blindly behind him for the window, shoved the panes open the moment the latch gave–

And stopped dead at the fourteen story drop. No balcony.

A strangled scream clawed out from Shinichi’s throat. His instinct was to curl in, to shrink from the pain and cover himself as best he could. He stumbled to his feet instead and turned his back on the window. The curtains were on fire. The bed was on fire. The corpse was on fire. His skin was _searing_, there was nothing at all within reach to smother the flames, and what the _hell _had happened to the sprinkler system anyway? The alarms were going off, strobe light flashing its warning, but no water. Not a drop.

Then a metallic red lighter landed with a dull thud right beside him and his whole world focused in on that point.

Something like rage charged through him. Shinichi staggered and stooped to grab the lighter. The metal burned his palm but he held tight and rushed headlong into the heart of the flames. When he came out the other side he collided painfully with the closed door to the hallway. Whoever had thrown the lighter – whoever had lit the fire – was already gone from the room.

Shinichi let out a growling cry, half pain and half frustration, and wrenched open the door. The air in the hallway was immediately cooler, cleaner, and he dove to the floor to roll off the worst of the flames still feeding on him. When he could, he wrestled off his burnt jacket and used it to smother the final flickers still stubbornly rising on his feet. He never once let go of the lighter.

By now, the guests on that floor had ceased their bemused peeking into the hall and realized this was no false alarm. People were crushing toward each end of the hallway, shouts of “Incendie!” rippling through and echoing back. Shinichi, lying more toward the middle than toward either end, was far enough away to either go unnoticed or to not elicit any strong enough sense of responsibility in the people fleeing. Which was fine. He couldn’t see any sign of a suspicious figure taking aim to finish him off, at least. But he also couldn’t get up.

Shinichi pushed himself over onto his stomach and coughed into the carpet. Maybe he couldn’t make it to his feet – they were just two lumps of pain at this point, burnt bits of sock clinging to charred flesh – but he could still crawl. He started for the nearer of the two stairwells, shaky on burned hands and knees, fingers still fisted around the red lighter, but before he even got near the clot of people at the door he collapsed again. His head was buzzing with the ringing alarm and flashing lights, the smoke and pain and adrenaline, the _lighter _clutched in his fist… Panic was starting to close in and he couldn’t take that right now. Instead he shut down, curling up on his side and willing away the noise and the fear and the fire under his skin until darkness closed around him.

Kaito’s private session with Mirla had gotten as far as one row of chocolates gone from the box and Kaito sprawled awkwardly on top of the small velvet couch with his hands covering his face when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He reached for it on reflex and held it up to peek through the fingers of his other hand at who was calling. Akako’s name lit up the screen.

“Uh…” Kaito sat up and stared down at the phone, confused. “I… should probably take this,” he said to Mirla who was watching him like a lab specimen. She waved him on and picked another chocolate from the box on the table between them. Kaito answered, switching back to Japanese.

“Akako? Isn’t it, like, five AM in Tokyo?”

“Where is Kudou-kun?”

The question was sharp and urgent and Kaito’s chest locked up. “He’s working a case tonight in the city. Why?”

“Go find him. He’s in trouble.”

Kaito was on his feet before he was conscious of moving. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“I _saw_,” Akako answered. “There was fire, and a shadow, and _so _much fear, Kuroba-kun.”

“But you don’t know where he is?” He could see how frantic he must sound in the crease of Mirla’s eyebrows. She was leaning forward in her armchair, intent on his body language and reactions.

“An upper floor of a public building?” Akako murmured, and it was definitely a question. “I don’t know; I can’t–”

“The hotel,” Kaito cut in. “He was investigating at a hotel. I’ll find it.”

“_Hurry_, Kuroba-kun,” she said, desperate in a way Kaito was unfamiliar with, and which didn’t match at all to Akako’s normal level of empathy, or lack thereof. Before he could wonder too much about it, though, she hung up.

“I have to go,” he immediately said. He was talking to Mirla but he was focused on his phone, pulling up Shinichi’s website. “Something happened; Shinichi’s in trouble–”

“Well of course he is.”

“This isn’t a joke!” Kaito snapped, the phone forgotten for a moment under a hovering finger. “And it isn’t his fault. All he’s _ever _tried to do is stop criminals and help people.”

He watched as Mirla stood, unhurried, patient – patient with _him_, like she’d always, always been – and laid a gentle hand on his arm.

“I know, Kaito. Go. Call me as soon as you know more.”

Kaito knew what she was really saying: _If he’s hurt, I’ll be there to help. _All he could do was nod tightly before vanishing from the room.

Shinichi was not at the hotel by the time Kaito got there. It took more KID than Kaito to eventually discover he’d been taken to a hospital nearby. It took _much _more KID than Kaito to not freak out about that.

At the hospital, a nurse showed Kaito up to Shinichi’s room, but they had to stop to talk to the two police officers standing in the hallway before he could go in. Their questions were vague and Kaito couldn’t quite get a bead on _exactly_ why they were there, not without dropping his “innocent and concerned fiancé” role. Still, they let him pass, and that was more than enough for him at that moment.

The room was brightly lit and Shinichi was awake, watching the door when Kaito came in. He spoke before Kaito had even made it to his side.

“I’m okay,” he said, though his voice was badly hoarse. “The police are outside, right? Pretty sure they suspect me of arson. And murder. The security system at the hotel must have been tampered with. Of course it would be, if it was Merlot–”

“Merlot?” Kaito cut in sharply.

“Yeah, sorry, they’ve got me on pain medication – it’s why they’re only waiting outside for now. I’m having a little trouble thinking clearly, but that lighter… I need KID. Talk to Megure – see where the breach was–”

“Shinichi. Shinichi, stop.”

Shinichi stopped and Kaito closed his eyes, gripping into the sheet at the edge of the mattress with both fists, his shoulders hunched and his head bowed. “You’re okay,” he breathed out. Then he straightened up. “That’s good. I need you to catch me up on the rest. What happened?”

“So that client, Carol Keating, doesn’t exist,” Kaito muttered. He was sitting on the edge of the mattress, one hand at his chin and the other resting on the bed, covered lightly by Shinichi’s despite his bandages. “That takes away any legitimate reason for you to be at the hotel, let alone in the same room with the man whose throat was slashed and where the fire broke out. You were found holding the lighter, too. And if security cameras at the hotel were tampered with you can’t even prove that you’d only just arrived and that someone else was there.”

“I didn’t do it,” Shinichi said, conviction firm in his voice and eyes. “There’s only one truth and I know they’ll see that, so I can’t worry about that for right now. Just Merlot.”

Kaito nodded. “I’ll take care of it.” He leaned over Shinichi and touched a kiss to his forehead. “Do you want me to call Romain-sensei first?” he murmured.

Shinichi shook his head. “I’ll want to see her eventually, but for right now–”

“I got it. Merlot comes first. I’ll be back as soon as I know more.”

Merlot – Tai Liling – was in Japan, right where she was supposed to be, when KID called the Organization Task Force to check. There was nothing even remotely suspicious on any security record or with any guard. As a final check, KID asked after any red lighter that may have been found and logged from the mansion last summer, but that was also still exactly where it was supposed to be, locked up in evidence.

Shinichi, for his part, was starting to wonder if it was possible to die of frustration, and if that was somehow the Organization’s new plan to kill him off. Between the not-news on Merlot and the fact that he had to leave the hospital in a wheelchair he couldn’t even wheel on his own, Shinichi was about ready to scream. He had _no_ outlet. He couldn’t even clench his fists. His feet and legs were too badly burned to walk, his hands too burned and bandaged to be used – he would be out of commission in pretty much every regard until he had time to heal up. “A few weeks,” they’d said, and Mirla had confirmed.

The only consolation was that the police had let Shinichi go based on lack of motive, lack of murder weapon, and a healthy dose of reasonable doubt. As a civilian, that was the end of any involvement Shinichi could have in the case, though, which gave it a bitter twist.

“If I were still a suspect,” Shinichi grumbled when they made it back to their Paris rooms. “I’d at least get a little insight.”

Kaito just laughed and helped him into bed. “I’ll steal a copy of the case write-up before we leave for New York. We’ll give them the rest of the month to make progress on it.”

“I guess,” Shinichi replied, but he was actively pouting, his frustration now quelled into petulant exhaustion. “I can look into the case request on my site at the very least.”

“After you recover.” Kaito flicked off the light and snuck into the bed, curled on his side facing Shinichi but not touching. “Agreed?”

Shinichi was quiet in the dark and Kaito huffed at him. “…I’ll give it eight days,” he finally said.

Kaito rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure to have Romain-sensei come see you in eight days, then. We’ll see how far you get.”

Shinichi groaned and Kaito smiled, snuggling into his pillow. “Goodnight, Shinichi~” There was a light touch, just a graze of Shinichi’s bandaged hand against his.

“Goodnight, Kaito.”

*

Shinichi had more one-on-one time with Mirla, more chocolate, and more home-cooked French meals than he could honestly keep track of that month. He’d realized about two weeks in that, yes, Mirla liked the company and liked to cook, but also that the doctor part of her seemed to see Shinichi (and the Kurobas) as a sort of pet project – like she couldn’t bear to watch them butcher their health so she just had to step in and fix it.

Overall, it was a good deal – it kept Shinichi from going too stir crazy and it made Kaito feel less guilty about leaving Shinichi alone so much while he was at work.

By the end of April, Shinichi was not only healed up, but was also feeling steadier emotionally than he’d felt in a while. He’d talked through that night in the hotel with Mirla, reviewed Carol Keating’s case request with Mirla’s help until his hands were satisfactorily healed (_nine _days, but whatever), and had come to a conclusion. Being framed for the arson and murder was coincidence – unplanned, flimsy, and full of holes. It could never have held up. Being set on fire… was not.

The lighter, he thought, was also no coincidence. He was deeply gratified to find that Mirla agreed. Someone who knew his trauma with Merlot had lured him in, set him on fire, and deliberately left him with a copy of her lighter. If they’d only intended to leave the lighter in the fire as a way to dispose of evidence, they wouldn’t have come so far into the room in order to throw it all the way to the window where Shinichi had been. And it wouldn’t have been the _same _lighter.

That meant Organization, which he’d already figured on, but the _logic _of it was bracing. He had his suspicions about the victim as well, but he was feeling grounded enough to wait for Kaito to steal the police data. In the meantime, he rested, solved email cases, and got to know one of the Kurobas’ oldest family friends.

After all, it was a family he’d be marrying into.

*

The night before their flight to New York, Kaito infiltrated the police judiciaire only to find that the files on the hotel murder and arson had been corrupted. Evidently it was causing something of a stir (though a quiet one) that IT couldn’t figure out what was happening. Kaito was forced to leave empty handed.

In the end, Shinichi and Kaito boarded the plane to New York with no additional information on the case at all, but it didn’t seem to faze Shinichi. He took in the “coincidental” corruption of the case files hungrily as a clue in and of itself, and seemed no less determined to sort it all out one way or another.

Kaito silently hoped it would be the last they’d hear of it instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, happy Thanksgiving to anyone who celebrates it! Happy Thursday to anyone who doesn't! 
> 
> Here is some head canon for you: I had intended to squeeze in a quick apology from Kaito for using his admin access to Shinichi website to get the name of the hotel Shinichi was meeting his client at. Though I wasn’t able to fit it in, I consider it canon to the story that Kaito had promised not to access the site, for the sake of client confidentiality. Shinichi, for the record, super does not care in this particular instance because Kaito had good reasons, and because Carol doesn’t even exist.


	10. Chapter 10

_New York City, USA_

_May 4th _

*

“There’s no evidence, there’s no investigation, there’s nothing to worry about!”

“That’s not what I’m asking, Chartreuse. The police don’t matter. What are _they_ saying?”

The response was supremely smug. “That Fernet got involved with some ‘silver bullet’ and got what was coming to him. No one can even track you to Paris. It’s _fine_.”

“…Alright. That’s my boy.”

“Well, that’s the good news anyway. Bad news is Lager refused.”

“Even for you?”

“Bloody coward just like the rest,” Chartreuse confirmed.

Bishop sighed. “Well, is Zivania ready to move? None of them will help us _directly_, but we can at least give that plan a go.”

“I’ll have her start tonight.”

“And Chartreuse… Just in case, find me some help in Chicago, won’t you?”

A pause, then, “Ah. Non-member, you mean. It’ll take some time.”

“That’s all right. Love a long game.”

*

“Okay. This is it.” Kaito reached for the laptop on the table in front of them and Shinichi grabbed his hand.

“Are we really ready to do this?” His eyes were pleading, begging the true question: _Are _you _ready, because I am _not_. _

“It’s got to happen sooner or later,” Kaito answered. “Honestly, this is the safer choice in the end.”

Shinichi slowly let him go. “Right.” He let out a breath and Kaito took Shinichi’s hand this time, holding tight.

A glance, a nod, and Kaito opened the laptop and let the video call ring through. Chikage picked up right away, her smiling face filling the screen as she leaned in toward the camera.

“Hello, you two!” she said. “Happy birthday, Shinichi-kun!”

Shinichi’s smile was only a little forced. “Thanks, Chikage-san.”

“How are you feeling? How’s New York treating you?”

“Heh, I’m fine – all better, I promise,” he answered.

“We’ve barely been here three days,” Kaito added. “We’ll need some time to explore.”

“_You’ll _need time,” Shinichi put in. “I’ve been dragged all over New York plenty of times before.”

Kaito just shrugged.

“Well then,” Chikage said. “What’s this news you said you had for me?” She settled her cheek on the heel of her hand and fluttered her eyelashes expectantly somehow. Shinichi took a silent deep breath.

Kaito grinned. “We wanted you to be the first to know even if we can’t tell you in person: Shinichi and I are officially engaged! We’re planning to tell Yusaku-san and Yukiko-san when we see them today.”

“Oh, _finally_,” Chikage huffed, deflating instantly. “It’s about time; don’t know _what _you were waiting for, Kaito.”

Part of Shinichi wanted to take exception to the default assumption that Kaito had done the proposing. The rest of him reasoned that he’d made that same assumption himself in the past, and it had been a sound one.

“You have to tell me all about the proposal, of course,” Chikage went on, but when Kaito opened his mouth to comment she cut in again to stop him. “Not from you, Kaito. I want to hear it from Shinichi-kun.” She settled her elbows on the table in front of her screen, cupped her face in her hands, and peered into the camera expectantly.

“Heh, sure, I don’t mind,” Shinichi said. He told her about Kaito’s riddles and codes, the whole day sightseeing in London culminating in dinner at Simpsons overlooking the Strand. “And that was where he proposed,” he finished, and the only outward sign of that lie was how much tighter he was squeezing Kaito’s hand now.

“Hmm, London, huh?” Chikage hummed. “Just how many months ago _was _this official proposal?”

“Um,” Shinichi said.

“Four,” Kaito answered with a shrug.

Chikage leaned back and spread her arms in exasperation. “And you didn’t _tell _anybody before now?”

Kaito flushed pink. He knew that was his miss. Normally he’d be the one holding Shinichi accountable for such things, but in his mind they’d been engaged since the summer, and the circumstances around each proposal had elements of “Do Not Share” deeply imbedded in them. His brain had compartmentalized. “The whole troupe knows!” he countered anyway.

“I bet they knew before you even did it. Doesn’t count.”

“What about Ruby and Audrey?” Shinichi put in. “You introduced me to them as your fiancé.”

“Oh.” Kaito put a finger to his chin, thinking. “Well, I guess Romain-sensei knows, too. Uh, I didn’t really talk about the proposal, but I talked about us getting married when I went to see her the night of the hotel fire.”

Chikage raised an unamused eyebrow. “So when you say I’m the _first _to know–”

“The first of all the people back home,” Kaito said. “That’s gotta count for _something_.”

Chikage’s huff said it didn’t. “Honestly, do I need to tell you _again_ about your father’s romantic gestures?”

“No!” Kaito said quickly, but it was like Chikage couldn’t hear him anymore. “How would that even help?!” he tried anyway.

“Our honeymoon was–”

“Hey! Guess what it’s Shinichi’s birthday and we’re meeting the Kudous soon so we really gotta go bye!”

“Kaito!”

Kaito closed the laptop on Chikage’s protests and slumped back in his chair. “Well that was exciting.”

“It could have been _much _worse,” Shinichi said. He leaned against Kaito. Kaito slipped his arm around Shinichi and leaned in too.

“You know, you didn’t have to give my mom the cover story. I mean, we _did _have to _tell _her the cover story, but you could have told her the real one, too.”

Something about Shinichi’s smile moved right past fond and landed somewhere around _smoldering. _Kaito felt a shiver buzz through him.

“I know,” Shinichi said. “But that moment, that night at 221B? That’s _mine_.”

“Hmm.” Kaito’s eyes skated over Shinichi, assessing. “Gotta say… I kinda like the sound of that.”

“I thought you might.” Shinichi held his free hand out then, offering it to Kaito, and tugged him over. Kaito went willingly, turning to face him and settling on his lap on the small kitchen chair. Immediately, Kaito dipped in to kiss him, his hands gently framing Shinichi’s face.

“Mm…” Shinichi reached up and threaded his fingers into Kaito’s hair. Eventually his kisses trailed off so he could murmur against Kaito’s cheek, “We’re not heading out _that _soon, are we?”

Kaito grinned. “You get so_ greedy_ when it’s your birthday.”

“I just know what I want,” Shinichi replied haughtily.

“Hm? And what’s that?”

Shinichi let one arm slide down, wrapping around the small of Kaito’s back to press him in closer, but his other hand stayed gripped tight into Kaito’s hair. “Top receive,” he said. “For right now. And then tonight I want bottom. I want to be in bed all day tomorrow for how hard you work me. You got it?”

From where Kaito’s pelvis was pressed to Shinichi’s stomach, the message seemed well received. Kaito let out a breathless laugh. “Well… When you put it like that…” He dove in for another kiss, pulling and suckling and Shinichi didn’t even notice how or when Kaito managed to slide off of his lap and pick him up from the chair in the midst of it. He carried Shinichi over to the bed and broke the kiss to set him on his feet. Then he flopped onto his back in the middle of the mattress and folded his hands behind his head on the pillows. “Why don’t you come over here and take what you want?” he said with a grin.

Shinichi grinned back and climbed onto the bed, tugging off clothes to do just that.

*

Shinichi and Kaito ended up sitting across from Yusaku and Yukiko in a booth at a restaurant called Butter. It was the compromise they had come to after Shinichi had insisted on American food (“We just got back from Paris; why would we go for French food in New York?”) and Yukiko had insisted on something “fancier than Good Burger”. Kaito was just pouting over the lack of cheesecake.

Still, it _was _a compromise, and a fairly civil one at that. The four of them had gone to a shooting range before dinner which Shinichi had unreservedly enjoyed, and somehow there hadn’t been so much as an argument or cringe-worthy moment yet. As they were getting on toward dessert, though, Kaito could read in the wide and uneasy shifting of Shinichi’s eyes and the fidgeting of his feet under the table that it was coming. Yukiko had a sixth sense for these things, so she was likely saving up all her _drama_.

When the desserts were brought out, Shinichi grabbed Kaito’s hand under the table and took a deep breath.

“So, we have some news,” he said, painfully casual, enough that Kaito cringed – the first of many for the remainder of the dinner, he was sure.

Yukiko gasped. “You’re pregnant!”

Shinichi stared blankly at her. Kaito rooted himself to the bench seat like a stubborn cat in anticipation of–

“Nope. No. Forget it.” Shinichi put his hands on the table and stood as best he could in the booth. “_Move_, Kaito.”

“Shinichi, sit down,” Kaito replied, and he managed to keep the chuckle out of it but it was a near thing.

Shinichi hesitated but slowly sat back down. “I elect to have nothing more to do with this conversation.” He folded his arms and leaned back in the booth.

Kaito rolled his eyes fondly then looked back to Yukiko with a smile. “Thank you, Yukiko-san,” he said, all charm. “Now I get to be the one to tell you both that Shinichi and I are officially engaged.”

“Congratulations–” Yusaku started to say, but Yukiko cut him off, voice pitched to carry, and squealed, “Kai-chan, you finally proposed!”

Shinichi’s eye twitched.

“I did,” Kaito agreed, somehow still smiling. “Would you like to hear about it?”

A large part of Shinichi wanted to cry simply from the twisted up combination of exasperation, embarrassment, consternation, and that persistent gratitude that came whenever Kaito sheltered him like this.

“We’d love to hear all about it, Kaito-kun,” Yusaku said, and Shinichi blurted out, “You have a bet going, don’t you.” 

“Well, of course we do, Shin-chan,” Yukiko chided. “_Everyone _knew it was only a matter of time, and it’s a good opportunity for me to take your father down a peg.”

“You’re assuming you’ve won,” Yusaku commented.

She picked up her fork and waved it gently in Kaito’s direction. “Go on. Tell him, Kai-chan.”

Kaito did, though, he noted with amusement, Yusaku was actually having a separate conversation with Shinichi the whole time via eye contact and body language alone. When Kaito had finished, Yukiko and Yusaku traded glances.

“I’m not sure which of us won,” Yukiko admitted.

“Hm,” Yusaku murmured. “True. _If _that was the whole story, then it happened later than either of us thought.”

“Later? It was four months ago,” Shinichi said. “When did you even _make _this bet?”

“Not important,” Yukiko insisted. “_Is _that the whole story, Shin-chan?”

Shinichi regarded her with a hard stare. “Are you calling Kaito a liar?” he asked, perfectly straight-faced.

There was just a moment of warning – the grins that appeared on both Yukiko and Yusaku’s faces – before they were laughing out loud, wantonly enough that several heads turned their way.

Kaito’s eyes slid toward Shinichi, his lips a tight twist of wry displeasure. “This is why you’re marrying into _my _family,” he whispered.

Shinichi cradled Kaito’s hand in his own under the table and leaned against his shoulder. “No arguments here.”

*

“Um, I thought you said you had _news_,” Sonoko said in response to their announcement the next day. Kaito and Shinichi were folded together on a small couch with the laptop open on the low table in front of them. Sonoko, Ran, Makoto, Hakuba, Aoko, and even Hattori and Kazuha were gathered easily in front of what was likely a big screen TV at Sonoko’s house, complete with conference-ready camera for video calls.

“That… _is _news,” Shinichi said.

“Well I’ve got _news_ for you,” Sonoko went on. “You aren’t ‘engaged’. You guys passed newlyweds, like, a year ago. You’re argue-y young married couple now.”

“Argue-y?” Kaito complained.

“Pretty sure that ain’t how it works,” Hattori added.

“Oh, like _you _would know,” Sonoko sniped back.

Hakuba cut in over the bickering, addressing the screen. “Congratulations, Kuroba-kun, Kudou-kun,” he said.

“When’s the wedding?” Ran asked.

Before Kaito could answer, and before Shinichi could even _process_, Sonoko jumped back in.

“Ooh! That’s right! A wedding! You better not do a destination wedding without us.”

“Don’t worry, Sonoko-chan. Of _course_ we’ll all be invited. Kaito knows better than that.” Aoko turned a razor sharp smile slowly toward the screen. “Don’t you, Kaito.”

“Are ya gonna have rings?” Kazuha put in.

“How the heck do ya even _do_ half this shit with two grooms?” Hattori wondered aloud. He froze for a moment. “Oi, oi. Kuroba. You’re not gonna wear a dress, are ya?”

And, because he couldn’t help it knowing the reaction he could get from Hattori, Shinichi grinned at Kaito. “He knows you too well.”

Hattori gaped, Makoto blushed, Hakuba snickered, and Sonoko got a fairly terrifying sort of scheming look on her face.

“Hey, for all _you_ know, Shinichi, he _is_ planning on it,” she said. “Do you actually _know_ the answer to any of these questions? What type of ceremony will it be? You need a date, a location, a menu. You’ll have to figure out what to wear, who to invite–”

“And establish a budget,” Hakuba put in. Sonoko groaned her exasperation at that at the same time Ran verbalized her approval.

The group fell into bickering again and Shinichi might have wondered at how people could get this invested in someone else’s wedding had he not been so busy freaking out. He was frozen on the couch, a vision of horror unfolding before him of endless days of _wedding planning_ and_ money_ and his _mother_ and…

And beside him, Kaito was answering. He had already explained his way through the non-religious ceremony to be held at the Haido City Hotel banquet hall when it sank into Shinichi that Kaito _had all the answers_.

The relief was enough that Shinichi almost melted right off the couch. At that moment he had no idea if Kaito was just spinning pretty lies to rein the conversation in, or if all of it _was_ actually planned, but it didn’t even matter. Kaito had him covered, and Shinichi did melt then, folding happily into Kaito’s side. Kaito smiled, still talking through cake flavors without missing a beat, and gently folded his hand over Shinichi’s.

“Okay! So! Made it through another step,” Kaito announced. He closed the laptop then scooped Shinichi up from the couch and carried him to the bed. Shinichi didn’t even complain. He’d said he wanted to spend all day in bed, and he’d meant it. Kaito lowered him to the blankets and slid in next to him. “Sorry it got all tangled up in your birthday,” he said.

Shinichi shook his head, smiling. “It made sense to do it then. Bad enough we put it off so long. If we were gonna be seeing and talking to everybody anyway, it was the best time to do it.”

“Mm,” Kaito agreed. “You’re in a strangely good mood, considering.”

Shinichi just rolled his eyes. “So what’s the _next _step?”

“Nothing, really,” Kaito said with a shrug. “Most of the planning is done – in theory, anyway. Nothing will be set up until we have a date though. I figured… once we’re back home again. You know?”

There was hesitance there and Shinichi read half a dozen different reasons for it all at once. Kaito was still unsure how Shinichi felt about returning to Japan, given the circumstances when they’d left. Shinichi couldn’t blame him; he was unsure himself. But there was also anxiety in Kaito’s tone, about the troupe and his career – how long it might take for him to be ready to go solo, and whether _that_ would be the deciding factor when he left the troupe or… something worse.

Shinichi turned more fully toward Kaito to fold him into his arms. “Once we’re home,” he agreed, and he felt Kaito relax a little. “And whatever else you want is fine,” Shinichi went on. “You just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”

Kaito smirked. “Barring any murders.”

“Barring any murders,” Shinichi echoed with a nod. “…I’m gonna be late to my own wedding.”

“It’s good that we know that, at least,” Kaito laughed.

Shinichi’s phone buzzed on the nightstand and Shinichi let out a groan. He rolled away from Kaito to reach back and grab it. “…Lupin-san,” he said, staring down at the number on the screen.

Kaito’s eyebrows pulled in, mirroring Shinichi’s. “Is… he just calling because it was your birthday yesterday?”

“I never told him my birthday. Not that he couldn’t figure it out, but I don’t think he’d bother.” He poked the screen with a thumb and put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

Almost immediately Kaito pawed at the phone and Shinichi offered it to him. He poked the speakerphone button just in time to hear Lupin’s greeting on the other end.

“Heya, brat,” Lupin said. “You alone?”

Shinichi and Kaito exchanged glances. “Yes,” Shinichi decided.

“Good. One of your ‘Organization’ buddies paid us a visit yesterday.”

Shinichi’s blood went instantly cold. “What? What do you mean? Where are you? Is everyone–?”

“Cool it,” Lupin insisted. “I’m just givin’ you an update. There’s nothing you need to do; we already took care of it.”

“Took care of it?” Shinichi repeated.

“Yeah. Lady somehow got it into her head to try gettin’ cozy with Fujiko-chan so she could slip us all some kind of poison or something.”

“And you…”

“Caught her red-handed, tied her up, and dumped her with Pops.”

“And how do you know she was Black Org?” Kaito asked.

If Lupin thought anything of the fact that Shinichi was not, in fact, alone, he didn’t comment. “Your name came up and she warned us not to get involved with you.”

Shinichi and Kaito traded looks again above the phone.

“So of course we asked her more,” Lupin went on. “Got her codename. Zivania. Tall, blonde, and German. Ring any bells?”

“No,” Shinichi said. “Never heard of her.”

“So then why did she bring you up?” Kaito murmured. “And why attack Lupin and the others?” His voice came back in clearer when he added, “You guys didn’t steal anything immortality-related recently, did you?”

“Got me,” Lupin replied. “Didn’t think so. Anyway, just wanted to let you know.”

Kaito waited a moment for Shinichi to reply but his eyes were far off, his hand curled at his chin and his eyebrows knitted together. “Sure,” Kaito answered instead. “Thanks, Lupin.”

“You sure Zenigata-keibu will be okay taking her in?” Shinichi suddenly asked before Lupin could hang up.

Lupin laughed. “Interpol’s most diligent inspector? He’s fine; don’t worry so much.”

“Okay, well, thanks again, Lupin-san. I’ll let you know if we find out anything more.”

“So much for staying out of trouble,” Lupin said with an audible grin, and he ended the call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be my least favorite chapter but I hope it brought some enjoyment anyway. Thank you for reading, my deers~


	11. Chapter 11

_Manhattan, New York, USA_

_Mid-May_

It was tradition that any time the Hopper Magic Troupe was in New York they would spend one full day at the magic library tucked into the Conjuring Arts Research Center in Manhattan. Use of the library was by appointment but Jody had had their place held from the moment the tour schedule was set.

Shinichi knew little about the whole thing except that when Kaito spoke about it, it was in hushed and reverent tones.

“You don’t understand,” he insisted over dinner the night before. “It’s like, the holy grail for magicians. Like… Like, imagine hearing rumors that Doyle had some lost works that no one’s ever seen and this library was the most likely place to run across them. That’s what it is.”

Shinichi smiled and popped open another of the Chinese takeout containers. “Well when you put it like _that_,” he said, and he meant it to be patronizing but Kaito didn’t seem to notice. “So the whole troupe is going?”

Kaito shook his head. “Mm mm,” he hummed around a mouthful of fried rice. It took him a few seconds to swallow, and even as he did he started piling more onto his chopsticks. “Magicians only, this time,” he managed between bites.

“Is that the library’s rule?”

“No, no. They allow scholars and whatever, so I don’t think it’s an issue. It’s more that the place is really small. We’re pushing capacity limits as it is.” He sighed, devoured a piece of sweet and sour chicken, then added, “I was hoping we could bring Mr. Fanucci along – he’s the only one who can translate Italian.”

“What? But Mr. Fanucci is…” Shinichi paused and his eyebrows creased together.

Kaito raised an eyebrow at him. “He’s our costume designer,” he said slowly. “He’s not a magician.”

“Right. No, I know that, he just… he’s really got the same vibe as you guys.”

Kaito shrugged. “Probably why he’s so damn good at it. But anyway, we’ll have Nat there for any German texts, Lili and Miguel for Spanish, and I’ve got French and Japanese covered. English, of course, and Swahili since we’ve got Ahadi. I hope she’ll be able to enjoy herself; I know English is still rough for her.”

“West’ll help her out,” Shinichi said offhand.

“Hm?”

“Oh. Nothing, I don’t know. I guess they just seemed close at the house in Neuruppin.”

“Yeah,” Kaito agreed, and maybe his eyes flickered over Shinichi with quick assessment, but he let it pass. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure most of the texts will be in English anyway, but we’ve got lots of angles covered just in case. And hey,” he added, suddenly pointing his chopsticks at Shinichi. “It’s tradition to go out for dinner after. We’ll meet up with the rest of the troupe, and family is welcome. You wanna come?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I feel like I haven’t seen everybody in ages.” He reached out with his own chopsticks to tip one of the takeout containers toward him. Then he tipped another, and a third. They were all empty. “Hey, where’s all the food?”

Kaito froze for a moment, then grinned at him around the tips of his chopsticks.

“I knew we should have ordered more.”

If Shinichi thought nine straight hours of library time with no food or breaks would exhaust, drain, or in any other way inhibit Kaito and the other magicians of the Hopper Magic Troupe, he was dead wrong. They were packed into a party room in the back of a bustling pizza place near the library and the excited chatter had reached a fever pitch now that their pizzas had mostly been devoured.

Kaito and Shinichi were sitting at a table with West, Ahadi, Lili, and Giorgio, happily stuffed and watching as Nat, their seventh table-mate, made solid headway on the pizza she had all to herself.

“So… you _honestly_ enjoy this, er, combination,” Shinichi ventured.

Nat plucked a piece of honey-drizzled avocado from the slice in front of her and popped it into her mouth. “Why else would I order it?” she asked.

“Hunger-induced delusions after being locked in a library all day?” Shinichi suggested.

“Neuroses about sharing your pizza?” Lili tried.

Nat just shrugged and took a huge bite of the slice to be sure she got some grape, red pepper, and avocado all at once. West shivered and looked away, his tongue sticking out.

“So,” Shinichi said to change the subject. “West, you’re from America, right? Do you have any family around here?” It would be nice, Shinichi reflected, to not be the only outsider in the group for once, after all. Kaito’s closest coworkers all seemed to be unattached and either emotionally or geographically distant from their families as far as Shinichi knew.

“America’s pretty big,” West laughed, and said nothing more.

Shinichi’s eyes unconsciously darted to Kaito, but if that was odd to him he didn’t show it. Either he hadn’t been paying attention or he already knew something about West’s family that Shinichi didn’t. _Probably best not to push it, _he thought.

“Oo, la cara de detective,” Lili said, and Shinichi blinked and looked over at her.

“What?”

“Your face,” Lili repeated. “You were doing your detective face.”

Kaito leaned forward and settled an elbow on the table, hand against his cheek, to get a look at Shinichi’s face. “Hm, you guys have been spending way too much time together if she’s already got you pegged, Shinichi.”

“She’s just good at reading people,” Shinichi insisted.

“She just knows ‘detective face’ is the only face you have,” Giorgio chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘great detective’, whatever,” Nat said between bites. “But you’d never see through Jody’s tricks.”

Shinichi blinked across the table at her, surprised. “You really don’t think so?”

“You’re among _magicians_ now, Mr. Detective,” West said, though somewhat gently. “It’s a whole other ballgame.”

Shinichi pointed at Kaito. “Well what do you call him?”

“Compromised,” Giorgio answered without missing a beat.

“Hey!” Kaito squawked but Nat spoke over him.

“Mr. Fanucci’s right. Family doesn’t count; it’s different.”

“Is that right?” Shinichi drawled, and he nudged Kaito with his elbow. “Hey, you have some paper?” He pulled out a pen and Kaito obliged, handing over a neat stack of blank note cards with a smirk he surely meant to hide but that Shinichi could still see in his eyes. Shinichi set to work, bent low to block his writing. He wrote a word or two on each card before folding it in half and handing one to each person at the table in turn.

“Don’t show them to anyone,” he said as he handed each over, and, being good sports for any trick or game, everyone complied, even as he expanded the group of card-holders out beyond their table.

Once everyone had a card and Shinichi was standing back where he could see the room he asked, “Well? How’d I do?” and gestured for them to read the cards.

All around the room, little tells of surprise flickered to life – faint blushes, wide eyes, chewed lips, shifted postures. He watched it all carefully then slid back into his seat next to Kaito. The chatter slowly rose up again as very select groups of people compared cards.

“So,” Giorgio started for their group. “Secrets, right? Is that what’s on each of these? Something we’ve never told anyone here about?”

“Secrets,” Ahadi echoed, just a murmur, like she was trying out the word. Her card was folded on the table under her hands.

“Well I’m not scared,” Lili declared. “Sure I never told anybody, but it’s no big secret.” She opened her card and showed it to the table. It read “tattoo”. “I’m not telling you where it is though,” she said with a grin.

Kaito’s eyebrows went up. “Do you know where it is?” he asked Shinichi with some interest.

“Yeah,” he replied, like it was a matter of course.

“Oh yeah right.” Lili rolled her eyes. “It was a lucky guess; there’s no way you know–” She paused, watching as Shinichi reached over to take her card, wrote on it and folded it again, then slid it across the table to her. She picked it up and read it. “…Huh.” Then she hopped from her chair and ran over to Miguel to confer.

“Anyone else need more proof?” Shinichi offered, smug.

“Anyone else feeling brave?” Kaito added, his voice sly. “I am _dying _to know what’s on all these cards.”

“Please, I bet he’ll tell you the minute you guys get home,” Nat said, but she slipped her card past her white blouse and into her bra anyway.

“There’s a reason I wrote them down instead of just calling them out,” Shinichi insisted. “Nobody _chose _to tell me this stuff. It’s not my place to go spreading it around.”

“That _is_ nice of you, Shinichi,” Giorgio said. “But mine’s no big secret either. Here you are, Kite.” He placed his unfolded card in the middle of the table.

“Black Harley?” West read.

“Um,” Ahadi started and West immediately replied, “It’s a motorcycle.” Then, to Giorgio, he added, “Mr. Fanucci, you ride a _hog_?”

“I cannot picture that,” Nat said.

Kaito was grinning. “I can!”

Giorgio just shrugged. “They are very good bikes.” He reached out and took the card back. “What about you, West? Cards on the table?” His smile was friendly, but his eyes had a bit of challenge in them. West looked down at the folded card he had creasing between his fingers.

“…No,” he eventually answered, much too lightly. “I’m okay.” He stuffed the card into his pocket.

“If you don’t like that one, how ‘bout this?” Shinichi took a blank card from the stack, scrawled something down, and passed it to West.

“Oo, man of mystery. West gets _two_ cards,” Nat laughed.

West stuck his tongue out at her then peeked at the card. He let out a sigh. “I was scared what you were gonna come up with,” he said to Shinichi. “I didn’t think I _had _any other secrets, but this one is fine.” He set the card in the middle of the table.

“Swahili?” Nat said, and she sounded disappointed.

“I’m trying to learn it.”

Ahadi suddenly stood up and everyone at the table looked her way. She flicked her card into the middle with West’s then pulled her shirt up a little, tapping a finger against the light blue jewel of her bellybutton piercing. Lili passed behind her a moment later and elbowed her playfully in the hip.

“Tell ‘em about the other one!” she said as she reclaimed her seat.

Ahadi’s bottom lip snuck between her teeth for a moment, but as she sat again she carefully turned the ring piercing her septum so that the two open ends of the dark metal rested below her nose instead of inside it.

“What?!” West laughed.

Ahadi just shrugged.

“Look at all these rebels,” Nat said fondly. “Riding motorcycles, getting body piercings and tattoos.”

“Learning Swahili,” Giorgio added, mimicking her tone.

West pointed at him. “Don’t start.”

“Turns out Roberto is secretly a romance novelist on the side,” Lili contributed.

“_Scandalous_,” Nat cackled.

“It’s a shame you and I are so boring, isn’t it, Shinichi,” Kaito said with a grin.

Lili, at maximum patronization, immediately replied, “Aw, it’s okay, Nuggets. We know you’re tigers underneath.”

“More to the point,” Giorgio said. “It looks like Shinichi was correct on all counts.”

“True,” Nat agreed. “That’s some party trick, kiddo.”

“Hey, maybe we should work him into the act,” West suggested. “We haven’t had a psychic since Pierre got married.”

Kaito scoffed. “Shinichi may be able to turn any normal or crime-related gathering into something theatrical, but put him on a stage and he’s useless.”

“Hey!” Shinichi said but Kaito just leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“I mean that with all my love. But I do mean it.”

“Ha ha.”

“Eh. It’s not that impressive anyway,” Nat said. “Look, I can do it too.” She shoved her pizza out of the way to reach across the table for a blank note card. She wrote on it, keeping it covered, then folded it and handed it to Kaito. “That one’s for both of you.”

Shinichi leaned over as Kaito opened the card. His face went instantly red while Kaito cackled.

“Well?” Nat insisted. “Am I right?”

“No!” Shinichi answered at the same time Kaito said, “Of course!”

“Okay, what does this thing say?” Lili demanded, and Kaito flicked the card into the middle of the table just quickly enough to keep Shinichi from snatching it.

“What is it?” Ahadi asked, staring at the card and tilting her head.

“KIDception,” West answered, but he was laughing so hard he could barely get the word out. “It means, uh…” He stalled then, searching for words.

“It means the Phantom Thief KID is fair game… _sexually_,” Lili said with copious eyebrow wiggling.

“Well, it’s both of us or neither, of course,” Kaito clarified. “I would be crushed if Shinichi went off and had a tryst with KID and didn’t invite me.”

Shinichi’s face was in his hands but he looked up abruptly at that. “Kaito!”

“So, Kite, does that mean you wouldn’t accept an _invitation _from KID without the Nugget?” Nat asked. “Doesn’t that kind of hurt your chances?”

“Are you kidding?” Kaito laughed. “I’m not even on KID’s radar, but I’ve seen the way those two flirt.”

“Kaito, will you _shut up_!”

“Hey, if you’re gonna dish it out on this secret train, you gotta be able to take it,” Kaito said with a giant grin. Shinichi went back to covering his face and didn’t reemerge until the conversation had well and truly moved on.

“So,” Kaito started as they were walking back to their rooms after the pizza party. There was a hint of scolding in his tone and Shinichi wondered vaguely which button of his he’d pushed. He could think of a few options. “You _do_ know to be careful about who you show that trick off to, don’t you? Good way to make a target of yourself.”

_Ah, _Shinichi thought with a smile. _So he’s just worried. _“Yeah, I know. I actually did it on purpose. Thought I could maybe bait a clue out of somebody. Get a hint about the London plane bombing, y’know?”

Kaito became immediately withdrawn, like Shinichi had known he would. “Oh.”

“Sorry,” Shinichi said. “I know it’s hard to hear–”

Kaito made a clear effort to shake off his unease, stepping quicker, as if to leave it behind. “It’s fine. We agreed. I need to be kept in the loop.” He pushed out a heavy sigh and tried again. “So. Did you find anything out, Meitantei? Were your murder senses tingling?” He wiggled his fingers at him but there was a note of anxiety under the joking tone that no one but Shinichi could have detected.

Shinichi only held back for a moment. Kaito wanted to know, and wanted to help, so Shinichi would let him. “It was interesting that Nadette didn’t show her card. She didn’t seem to care that I knew, but she doesn’t want you guys to.”

Kaito sighed again. “I think you’re gonna have to tell me what those cards said.”

Shinichi nodded. “Nat already knew all the secrets I’d written down. That’s what I put on her card, and she didn’t want you all to know that she knew everything.”

“Okay,” Kaito said, relaxing somewhat. “What about West? His first card.”

“He’s lying about his age. I’d guess he’s only… maybe twenty-one?”

“That’s only a three year difference. Who would bother lying about something like that?”

“Depends,” Shinichi said. “On timing. Do you know anything about his family?”

“Just that he never talks about it.”

Shinichi made a quiet humming sound, then, “Mr. Fanucci definitely knows about West. He hints at it a lot, but I’m not really clear on why. It… doesn’t _seem _malicious.”

Kaito was shrinking in again, clearly tired enough not to pretend the conversation wasn’t wearing on him. “Anything else I should know?”

“I don’t think so. The rest are just phobias, crushes, religion, that kind of thing. Nothing suspicious. Thijs is rich, though.”

“…Huh.”

Shinichi was starting to think it would have been better to deflect and have this conversation in the morning, but it was too late now so he just tugged Kaito closer as they walked and took his hand, holding tight. _I wish I could tell you not to worry, _he thought as they headed up to their room in silence. _The best I can do is figure this out as soon as possible._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lovely [Miss_Emotion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Emotion/profile) suggested in a comment on Aftermath Shinichi and Kaito becoming famous and getting asked about KIDceptions in an interview. I immediately made a note but I went with this scenario rather than an interview situation ‘cause I wanted them to be able to speak pretty freely and have fun with it without worrying about media crap lol I’m really happy with how this chapter turned out ^.^


	12. Chapter 12

_Chicago Illinois, USA_

_June 21st _

Shinichi woke early yet pleasantly in the bed of their Chicago housing the morning of June 21st. Kaito was stealing little snatches of kisses all across his bare neck and back and shoulders, and each one came with a softly murmured, “Mine.” He rolled toward Kaito with a contented hum, his eyes still closed, and Kaito happily continued, kissing along Shinichi’s face, down his neck and chest and stomach, and giving particular attention above his boxers, near his hip bone in just the right spot that always made Shinichi shiver.

“Hey,” Shinichi finally said, and Kaito shifted back up to cuddle into Shinichi’s waiting arms. “Let’s be clear. All this is mine, I just don’t mind sharing. Well. Not as long as it’s with you,” he added with a smirk.

“‘Sharing,’ huh?” Kaito said with a grin. “Is _that _what the kids are calling it these days.”

“Ha ha,” Shinichi said dryly, but he leaned in and gave Kaito a soft kiss. “Happy birthday.”

Kaito smiled. “It is, isn’t it. You gonna make me breakfast in bed and bake me a chocolate cake and take me out on a date? Oo! Will you bake me a chocolate cake _naked_?”

Shinichi choked on a laugh. “That sounds dangerous,” he managed. “And no – to _all _of the above – because you have work.”

“But it’s my birthday!” Kaito whined.

“Yes it is. And you have two shows today.”

He pushed closer, burying his face against Shinichi’s neck, and mumbled pathetically, “I’m sick.”

“No you’re not. Go to work.”

He perked up instantly then, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why are you trying to get rid of me? On my _birthday_. Are you _planning _something?”

“Yes,” Shinichi sighed, pouring all the sarcasm into it that he could manage. “I’m planning to sit here and solve crime. Possibly I will even go out there,” He gestured at the window. “And solve crime.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow. “_Crime_?”

“Yeah, probably not. You caught me – I’m just gonna sit around wearing your pajamas and solving mediocre cases for cash.”

Kaito rolled his eyes, planted a kiss on his forehead, and slid out of bed. “Yes, I’m sure you’re _so _miserable knocking out dozens of cases a day in between the big stuff. You wanna at least join me for a shower before you go back to sleep like I know you’re gonna?”

“Hey, I can’t help it if I get to set my own hours. No need to be jealous.” He reached out for Kaito from the bed and Kaito obligingly took his hand, hauling him up.

“You’re getting downright spoiled,” he said as he shut them into the bathroom.

Shinichi came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist, holding tight as he kissed Kaito’s neck. “It’s your turn to be spoiled today,” he said against his skin. “For at least as long as I have you.”

Kaito smiled, turned on the water, and let him have his way.

There was less than an hour left of Kaito’s birthday by the time he’d wrapped everything up with the troupe and made it to Millennium Park. He hadn’t been surprised at all to see the text from Shinichi waiting for him, telling him to meet him there under “that giant silver bean.” Sure, Shinichi didn’t love being the one to plan things or come up with surprises, but it was plenty obvious to Kaito that he’d been working on one anyway. He hopped up the stairs to the upper level of the park and found Shinichi camped out under the Bean, just sitting on the pavement with something very obviously hidden beneath one side of his unzipped jacket.

“You look really shady loitering around here like that,” Kaito laughed as Shinichi stood and met him under the middle of the wide arch of metal.

Shinichi shrugged. “The night’s cooling off,” he said. “I wanted to keep them warm so they’ll fly.”

Before Kaito could ask, Shinichi took a small, wide jar out from under his jacket and removed the mesh cover. Kaito’s eyes lit up as a few familiar golden flashes shone through the glass. Shinichi dipped a finger inside and lifted out one of the fireflies, then offered the jar to Kaito. He took it, grinning, and held it cupped in both hands as another firefly crawled up onto the rim. Then it and Shinichi’s took flight – two tiny golden lights floating and reflecting in the silver surface all around them.

“They’re just like the ones back home,” Shinichi said. He was watching Kaito coax a third firefly onto the tip of his finger with a soft smile. It hesitated, its wings flickering before it rose up with the others. Shinichi took Kaito’s hand then and they sat on the pavement, staring up at the tiny lights.

“You know, I never thought I could miss one place so much.” Kaito leaned his shoulder against Shinichi’s, cradling the jar in both hands. “I honestly thought I’d barely notice. That there’d be so much going on and so much to explore that I’d just be bored when we got back home, but…” His head tipped against Shinichi’s with a sigh. “I really do miss Japan.”

“I know,” Shinichi said. He tucked an arm around Kaito’s waist. “But we’ll be there again soon.”

“And until then I have an incredibly thoughtful fiancé who does things like travel to who-knows-where to catch fireflies for my birthday to get me through.”

Shinichi rolled his eyes. “I just took a train out to the suburbs. Not exactly an epic journey.”

“Don’t care,” Kaito murmured. The jar was empty now, a handful of fireflies still hovering under the arch of the Bean though some had already moved on. Kaito set the jar gently on the ground and cuddled up closer to Shinichi. “It’s epic to me.”

Shinichi scoffed a little at that but he didn’t argue, just let the city sounds take over as they watched the last of the lights make their way into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a real short fluffy chapter, but next week is Christmas so I'm hoping I'll be able to toss the next one up a little early for y'all. No promises but I'll see what I can do :3
> 
> You guys. I did research. On fireflies. I did this thing for you, my deers. Because I love you. (And because once I thought of the firefly idea I couldn’t let it go but I had to make sure it would work.) Here’s what I learned, in case there were any doubts!
> 
> Firefly population is affected by light pollution (they literally can’t find their mates if it’s too bright out so, yeah), which is why they chill in suburbs or unpopulated areas but not really in the city. (Their numbers are also affected by a lot of other things like rainfall, topsoil/food supply therein, how cold the winters get, lawn chemicals, etc.)
> 
> June, luckily for me (and Kaito), is solidly within Chicago’s firefly season so YAY (cause I was concerned – hence the research). 
> 
> The time of day fireflies are active begins at dusk and only lasts for an hour or two, so honestly the ones Shinichi releases for Kaito after 11PM are admittedly a little contrived, but they do retire fairly quickly. That’s also why Shinichi keeps the jar under his jacket – to keep it warmer, since the temperature starts to drop fairly quickly after sunset, and fireflies are coldblooded. They start to chill out, literally and figuratively, a few hours after dusk because it gets cool. (Also, Kaito is there, and he is a force of luck.) Basically, it was close enough for me to be okay with, even if it is a little contrived.
> 
> And now you know more than you ever, ever wanted to know about fireflies/lightning bugs ;D HAPPY WINTER lmao


	13. Chapter 13

_Chicago Illinois, USA_

_July_

“So ya got any good cases lately?”

Shinichi bit back a sigh. The question was Hattori’s way of dragging out their phone calls it seemed. He asked it every time their conversations started drawing to a close, and the answer was always the same.

“Not really,” Shinichi said. “Handful of lost pets and items, a little myth-busting here and there. It’s been quiet.”

“Yeah, _too _quiet,” Hattori muttered. “Somebody set ya on _fire_ in Paris an’ then, what, gave up?”

“I don’t know, Hattori,” Shinichi answered, and he let the sigh come through this time, pinching the bridge of his nose as he walked the busy sidewalks. A ping sounded, sharp in his ear, and he pulled the phone back to look at it. There was a new text alert and he quickly poked it open. It was from Lili.

_“Hurry up Nugget you got to see this! We’re by the bus stop on S Dearborn.”_

Shinichi put the phone back to his ear. “Look, I’m supposed to be meeting Kaito and some people from the troupe so I should probably get going–”

“Hey wait a sec. You’re only in Chicago two more weeks, right?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m just sayin’, it’s Osaka’s sister city and, I mean, ya _do _owe me a hat, Kudou. Prolly a couple hats by now, actually–”

“Okay, okay,” Shinichi laughed. “I’ll buy you a hat.”

“An’ _call me_ if any more shit goes down, ya got that?”

“Heh. Yeah, I will.”

“Later.”

Shinichi ended the call, ran a search on bus stops, then tapped the text open again.

_“Gonna need to narrow that down for me,” _he replied.

“So how deep _is _deep dish pizza?” Giorgio was asking as Shinichi jogged up to the bus stop.

West held up his hands, parallel to each other with a good amount of space in between. “About like that.”

“What?” Lili said. “_How_?”

“Well it’s not all bread in the middle. It’s a lot of cheese.”

“That… yeah,” Kaito said. He was leaning over, peering through the space between West’s hands. “That would be a _lot _of cheese.”

“All right,” Shinichi said as he joined them. “What did I need to see? Let’s make it quick; I’m starving.”

“Don’t worry Nug, it’s right here.” Lili grabbed his hand and pulled him around to the other side of the small shelter of the bus stop. Beside it was a City Information screen – a framed rectangle a few heads taller than Shinichi – showing a silent but animated advertisement for some new action movie.

“O… kay?” Shinichi said.

“Wait for it.” Giorgio was watching the screen over Shinichi’s shoulder when Shinichi glanced back at him, so Shinichi returned his eyes to the screen. A moment later, the movie ad slid off of the display and was replaced by an image of Jody Hopper, tipping her top hat and smiling mysteriously. The Hopper’s Magic Show logo floated above her with the Chicago tour dates along the bottom of the screen. Then she blew a kiss and the image went up in gold and crimson flames, crawling from the center outward and revealing another layer – a composite image of all the show’s stars, including West, Lili, and Kaito.

Shinichi stared, the realization hitting him all at once. Kaito was on his way to _actually _being famous. On his way to the solo career he’d always wanted. On his way to putting his life back on the track the Organization had ripped him from. It felt remarkably like _winning_. “Wow,” he breathed out.

Lili raised an eyebrow. “Not… really the reaction I was expecting.”

The screen cycled on to a perfume ad and Shinichi blinked and looked down. “Huh?”

“I mean it’s not _that _impressive,” Lili answered. “We were just excited to see one out in the wild.”

“Took a _ton_ of selfies,” Kaito added, but his smile and the way he was watching Shinichi said he understood a bit of what Shinichi was feeling now. The troupe was hands-on with the advertisements and had a good idea of what was out there. Shinichi probably hadn’t given it any thought until it was right in front of him.

The bus pulled up and the five of them boarded, clustering in the back corner to swipe through the pictures they’d all taken, with no shortage of bragging and teasing.

At the very next stop though, Shinichi started to get the feeling they wouldn’t be making it to dinner tonight. It was vague at first. Just a sense that something was wrong. Once he started looking though, he knew it immediately.

Three men positioned in the front, middle, and back of the bus, all wearing baseball caps, sunglasses, and light jackets, though it was certainly not cold. Then he started to notice the few other passengers on the bus raising their phones up, holding them near the windows and poking at them with varying degrees of consternation. Lili and West were doing the same.

Shinichi left them to their complaining and rested a hand on Kaito’s arm, but he didn’t have to say anything. Kaito was already watching the three men Shinichi had pegged.

“It’s your call,” Shinichi said under his breath. “How do you want to handle this?”

But they didn’t have time to discuss it. The man at the front stood up and the other two followed suit and then all three had pulled guns. One of the passengers let out a short, startled scream.

“It’s shut up and do what we say time, clear?” the man at the front called. Then he leaned over to talk to the driver.

At the same time, Shinichi leaned over and whispered to Kaito, “Well, we _have_ been riding a lot of buses lately. Your luck couldn’t override mine forever.” Kaito breathed out a quiet laugh.

The man at the front turned back to the passengers. “Stay in your seats. We only have business with one of you.”

Shinichi sighed and made to stand. Kaito grabbed his arm.

“It is extremely unlikely they’re here for someone other than me,” Shinichi whispered before Kaito could speak. “I might as well talk to them.”

“Is there _anything _more to your plan?” Kaito asked, exasperated.

“Not at the moment. How ‘bout you work on a distraction – a _civilian _distraction – while I see what exactly this is about.”

Kaito’s eyes shifted toward Lili, West, and Giorgio who were all keeping still in their seats. A “civilian” distraction, Shinichi had said, since they didn’t know who in the troupe to trust. But the Organization had already gotten hold of KID’s true identity anyway. If Kaito could act, if he could _help_, he saw no reason to hold back.

Shinichi stood and three guns were on him in the same moment. He stepped mildly into the center aisle with his hands raised. “So, you’re looking for me, right? You don’t look like Black Organization. Who are you people?”

The man in the back with him, now standing just to Shinichi’s right, pulled out his phone without lowering his gun. He swiped at it then looked from the screen to Shinichi and back. He nodded at the man they’d positioned in the middle of the bus who lowered his gun only so he could attach a silencer to the barrel.

In those few moments, Shinichi thought he saw Kaito move closer to him, got the sense that something quick had happened that he’d missed while focused on the hijackers, and then–

“Kaito, knock it off, these people might shoot you,” Kaito said. His accent had shifted to match Shinichi’s English, and his hair had been smoothed down but for a few very distinct cowlicks. He stood, a mirror image beside Shinichi, and tugged on his arm. “Sit down.”

“What… the hell,” said the guy standing closest.

Shinichi quickly looked around, gauging the hijackers’ reactions. They’d all just _stopped_.

“You _are _looking for Shinichi Kudou, right?” Kaito asked. “That’s me.”

_Okay, _Shinichi thought, heart racing. _Likelihood that their endgame is my death… Pretty damn high. Likelihood that they’ll just shoot us _both_ if they can’t tell us apart… _He considered the man in front, clearly in charge and fairly relaxed, emanating an air of calm. They’d worn disguises – enough that they couldn’t be readily identified – so killing everyone was not likely part of the plan. One of them had set up a way to cut off phone signal as well and, he was fairly sure, had likely disabled the bus’ GPS tracking as well. They were smart, then, and they were thinking ahead.

They also hadn’t just done the shooting already, regardless, so they were probably waiting for something – maybe distance from the city, since the bus driver was clearly headed in that direction.

Shinichi made up his mind and jumped in. “He’s lying,” he said, then added, “Kaito, sit down. I don’t want you hurt.”

“No, seriously, look,” Kaito said to the nearest hijacker. He grabbed Shinichi’s head with both hands, vigorously scraggling his hair until it was sticking up in all directions. “This is Kaito Kuroba. He’s got nothing to do with this.”

“Oh bullshit,” Shinichi replied, and scruffed up Kaito’s hair right back.

The guy in the middle of the bus had had enough. “Okay, we shoot _both_,” he growled, and raised the silenced gun. Shinichi froze, his heart stuttering for an instant before the man in front stepped in.

“No,” he said, and the man in the middle immediately subsided. “Not yet, and not both. We need positive ID. Zeta,” he added, addressing the man in the back. “Check their phones.”

“Zeta” obediently stepped into the center aisle and prodded Kaito and Shinichi into the corner opposite the troupe members, away from any other passengers. He picked through their pockets one-handed, gun still at the ready, and the man in the middle of the bus kept his weapon trained on them as well. Much to Shinichi’s surprise, Zeta turned up nothing.

“We didn’t bring our phones,” Kaito said. His tone implied he was holding back an eye roll. “There was a magic show. Didn’t see any need.”

“No wallets either?” Zeta demanded skeptically.

“He’s a magician,” Shinichi insisted, nodding toward Kaito.

“Magicians get in free,” Kaito finished for him, nodding toward Shinichi.

“Or magicians hide things up their sleeves,” Zeta muttered, but he took a step back, waiting for instruction.

“We know he had the phone before he got on the bus,” the leader said. “But never mind.” He nodded toward the opposite corner where Giorgio, West, and Lili were huddled. “We can ask the midget.”

“Hey!” West said, sharply and without thinking. It was followed quickly by a gurgly sound like he’d swallowed his own tongue. He was largely ignored.

Zeta turned from Shinichi and Kaito to grab Lili by the arm. He dragged her into the aisle. “Which one is Kudou?”

“¿Qué estas diciendo? ¡No hablo ingles!” she tried desperately.

“We _know _you speak English, Miss Gomez,” the leader said calmly. “Which one is Shinichi Kudou?”

“What do you want with him?” She shouted it like she wanted to be defiant, but she was shaking, her eyes tearing up.

And while the focus was on Lili, Kaito caught Shinichi’s eye, tapped Shinichi’s watch, and tipped his head subtly toward the man still standing in the middle of the bus. Shinichi nodded his agreement.

“Now,” Kaito stated, calm and sure, and in that instant the dart from Shinichi’s watch hit the man in the middle in his neck. At the same time, Kaito darted forward, stole the gun from Zeta’s hand, and pistol whipped him. His sunglasses broke and he went down hard, crumpling in the aisle in front of Lili. He didn’t get back up.

Within the next moment, Zeta’s gun was passed into Shinichi’s hands and Shinichi stepped between Lili and Zeta to aim steadily at the leader still standing at the front of the bus.

“Delta, I assume?” Shinichi asked.

“What–?”

“If this guy’s Zeta,” He kicked the guy’s foot. “I’m guessing that one’s Epsilon.” He nodded at the man sleeping in the aisle, fallen just past Zeta. “You guys have a clear structure, an order, and it wouldn’t make sense for the names to go in the other direction since Zeta and Eta sound too similar for them to be reasonable code names. That would make you Delta.

“You’re hired hands,” he went on before Delta could answer. “You don’t know me like Organization members do. But you should know it’s over. Put the gun down.”

Delta was looking at him like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Who _are_ you?” he eventually said. “I mean… who even _are_ you?”

“What, didn’t bother to ask before agreeing to kill me?”

“Look, I have a bus full of hostages and you–”

He stopped short at the sound of a gun being cocked right next to his ear.

“He said put it down,” Kaito said, impossibly beside Delta with Epsilon’s gun in hand, held steady and aimed close at Delta’s temple.

“What the _hell_?” Delta almost yelped. He looked from Kaito to the back of the bus where Kaito had been and back again. Delta’s gun was pointing vaguely at the floor now, practically forgotten in his hand.

“Drop it,” Shinichi demanded. “_Now_.”

He didn’t think twice. Delta set the safety and slowly crouched to place the gun on the floor, clear in his intent with every movement. “Okay, man. Okay.”

A quick flicker of eyes from Shinichi was all Kaito needed. He lowered his weapon as well and picked up Delta’s. Delta didn’t even try to resist. Then Kaito moved past him and crouched beside the driver.

“It’s all right now. It’s over. Let’s find a good place to stop, okay?”

As the bus slowed, Shinichi stepped carefully around the fallen hijackers to reach Delta, gun trained on him all the while. “Have a seat,” he said with cold amicability. He gestured to an open seat kitty-corner from the driver and Delta sat down. “I don’t know who you really are,” Shinichi started. “And I don’t care. I want to know who sent you.”

“I didn’t get a name, man,” Delta answered. “Went by Chartreuse in his emails. Rigged all this crazy shit like hacking your friend’s phone and killin’ the GPS on the bus.”

“Hacking a…” It clicked quickly. “Lili’s? You were reading our texts. That’s how you knew where I’d be getting on. Then you boarded at the next stop.” It added up, which only made it matter even less. “What did Chartreuse tell you?”

“Three mil for proof of Shinichi Kudou’s death. Sent us your picture and a little info and said to just be ready when he called.”

“_Called_?” Shinichi repeated sharply. “Give me your phone.” Delta handed it over.

The bus had stopped. When Shinichi looked ‘round the driver had her head down against the steering wheel, breathing somewhat unevenly. Kaito was kneeling in the aisle toward the back of the bus again with Epsilon and Zeta propped back to back on the floor. He was tying them together with a rainbow of silk scarves.

The handful of other passengers were all either watching Kaito or Shinichi with exactly as much fear, anxiety, and distrust as they had the hijackers. West… West was, too, eyes locked on Kaito like he was a stranger, and a dangerous one at that.

Shinichi’s eyes immediately sought out Giorgio, who was no longer sitting beside West as he had been for the whole debacle. He was kneeling beside Lili now instead. Her legs had given out and she was sitting on the floor, leaning into Giorgio’s support. As Shinichi watched, Kaito finished restraining Epsilon and Zeta and went to Lili’s side as well.

“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked.

Lili’s head turned his way, her eyes wide as she took in Kaito’s usual smile and relaxed posture and steady hands. “Tigres,” she whispered, staring.

“Huh?” Kaito said.

“Uh, nothing, sorry, I’m fine.”

“I think you’re in shock,” Giorgio said gently. “We need to call the police,” he added to Kaito.

“Something on the bus is blocking signal,” Shinichi cut in. “Kaito, could you watch this guy for me. I’ll go make the call.”

Kaito rose to his feet again and assessed Shinichi in one sweeping glance. One hand was white-knuckled around Delta’s phone while the other remained relaxed and ready around the gun aimed at Delta. Shinichi’s eyes, though, showed barely restrained anticipation.

Kaito refrained from glancing back at the troupe members before he moved to Shinichi’s side and held out his hand for the gun. Shinichi didn’t give it to him.

“Watch is empty,” he said, switching back to Japanese. “I’d rather keep it with me.”

“Shinichi,” Kaito said in clear warning, but Shinichi shook his head.

“There’s no deduction behind it,” he admitted. “I have no reason to believe anyone was following the bus waiting for something to go wrong, and this Chartreuse person sounds pretty hands-off. I just–”

“Found out that someone put a hit out on you. I get it.” Kaito produced one of the other two guns from somewhere and pointed it at Delta so Shinichi could lower his. “Just bring it back when the police show up. Don’t get caught up and forget.” Kaito’s eyes flickered again to the phone in Shinichi’s hand before returning to Delta who was watching them both with a mix of bafflement and exasperation.

“Is this a gang thing?” he asked.

Kaito raised an eyebrow at him. “No,” he answered in English, and said nothing more.

Shinichi tucked the gun into his waistband. He paused long enough for a slightly lingering touch of Kaito’s shoulder then stepped away and got off the bus.

Really, all it would have taken to get out of the bus’ dead zone and get signal was crossing the street. Instead, Shinichi walked into an alley and leaned his back against dirty brick once he saw the signal on Delta’s phone – clearly some sort of cheap burner without a touch screen or password lock – flicker back to life. For a brief moment, he debated calling Chartreuse _before _the police, but he knew that was stupid so he huffed out a sigh and dialed 911.

Once that was done and the police were on their way, he dove into the call history and redialed Chartreuse without hesitation. It picked up on the first ring.

“That was quick. He dead already? No police?”

“You’re British,” Shinichi noted with some surprise.

There was hardly a pause. “And you’re not Delta. But you’re calling on Delta’s phone and…” There was some clacking in the background. A keyboard. “The bus hasn’t got far. But it’s not moving. Guess that means I’m talking to the great Shinichi Kudou. What a pleasure.” His tone was condescending. Shinichi could hear the cruel smile in it.

“And you’re Chartreuse,” he replied. “Young, British, male, intelligent, cocky. Anything else you’d like to tell me?”

Chartreuse breathed a genuinely amused laugh into the phone. Shinichi caught the squeak of an office chair under it. “Do you think you can intimidate me? You and I both know you can’t touch me. Maybe this round failed but it certainly didn’t cost us anything.”

_Us, _Shinichi noted with a smirk.

“Try, try again, and all that,” Chartreuse went on. “But tell me, are _you _ready for another one?”

“I’m not worried,” Shinichi answered. “It takes time to recruit. You had nobody in New York and there’s not much time before I leave Chicago. You know what they say, though, don’t you? If you want something done right…” He let it hang unfinished.

“What, turn up myself on _your_ terms?” Chartreuse replied. “You expect me to be goaded so easily? No, Mr. Kudou. You’ll come to us when we want you to. You’ve just… got _so many friends_ around the world, now, haven’t you?”

There was a clear threat there, the smile still evident in Chartreuse’s voice. Shinichi took that in, turned it over, then set it aside. “Well I just figured since you’re already in the States we could settle this sooner rather than later. You _are_ in the States. Aren’t you, Charlie.”

“Oh, bet you think you’re clever. America’s a big place, though. Like I said, you can’t touch me.”

“No,” Shinichi agreed easily. He could hear sirens in the distance. “I guess you’re right. Still, I’ll get my chance. You’re sloppy, after all. That plane bombing? Really made a mess of that one, didn’t you.” He held perfectly still, willing Chartreuse to take the bait, and grinned when the offended scoff came over the line.

“That wasn’t me. I have _people _to take care of the legwork–”

“And they did a _great_ job, really,” Shinichi cut in. “Just like Jenever. And Zivania. And, what was your Paris operative’s name? The one who was murdered? Hm. Never mind. Guess it doesn’t matter. Well, you keep trying, Chartreuse. Nice chatting. I’ll be around.” He ended the call, cutting off any reply, and jogged back toward the bus as the sirens closed in.

West waited only long enough for a few of the cops to board the bus and cuff Delta before dashing (stumbling) up to Kaito and grabbing his arm. Then he remembered Kaito was holding a gun, or, more probably, two, and let go like he’d been burned. Kaito gave him a concerned glance but that was all he could spare at the moment because he _was_ holding two guns and these officers who’d only just arrived didn’t know the situation yet.

Kaito didn’t get a chance to actually talk to West, Lili, and Giorgio until Shinichi stepped back onto the bus a long fifteen minutes later with a few more cops. He stopped at Kaito’s side, rested a hand on his arm, and said with a reassuring smile that was, surprisingly, mostly genuine, “We’re okay. See about the others?” He nodded toward the troupe members huddled in the back of the bus.

Kaito leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thanks,” he murmured, and bee-lined for the back corner.

“Hey–” he started, but West grabbed his arm again the moment he was in reach and tugged him down hard onto the seat beside him.

“Okay you need to explain _everything _before the cops talk to me ‘cause I don’t even know what to think, let alone what to say.” The words were a rushed and shaky whisper and West was looking at Kaito like he’d been hurt and betrayed. That alone stung Kaito right back.

“Um, these guys – the three hijackers – were hired to kill Shinichi,” Kaito said, though hesitantly. “That’s… it?”

“Not _them_, Kaito,” West hissed back. Not Kite. Kaito. “You,” he went on, and Kaito locked down his poker face – the truest it had had to be in a long time. “You and Shinichi. Who are you, really, because _that_ was not normal.”

“West,” Giorgio cut in. He had his arm around Lili’s shoulders, keeping her close against his side as she shivered. “That’s not fair–”

“No, he’s right,” Kaito interrupted. “It _is _fair. It’s a valid question. But,” He looked back to West. “I don’t think the answer will be very satisfying.”

“Not _satisfying_?” West repeated, incredulous.

“There’s no big secret, West. Shinichi’s a detective who accidently stumbled into something big back when he was sixteen and got a target on his back for his trouble. I grew up in a house full of magic and parents with no sense of responsibility or reasonableness, so they taught me things normal kids probably don’t learn or practice. I’ve been dating Shinichi for three and a half years – we’re both just used to this shit by now, okay? That’s it. Sorry there’s no dramatic spy story, but, as it turns out, being hunted by one of the biggest groups in the global organized crime market just _sucks_, and you do what you can to survive.”

West had drawn back, wide-eyed, and Giorgio was looking at Kaito with something distressingly like pity. Yes, truths made the best lies, but that was a bit more truth than Kaito had been expecting to voice. _I… I should talk to Romain-sensei again soon, _he thought. He let out a sigh and deflated with it, his shoulders sagging. “Any questions?”

West’s teeth clicked together like his jaw had gone a little slack behind his lips. “No,” he murmured, eyes on his shoes. “No. Sorry Kite.”

The sigh Kaito let out this time was playfully aggravated. “Don’t apologize. Like I said, it was a fair question. It’s good to be a little suspicious sometimes.” His eyes skated over toward Giorgio. “Keeps you safe.”

As Shinichi had expected, they didn’t make it to dinner that night. Kaito was feeling drained by the time the police were finished with everything, and Shinichi was just eager to get back to their rooms.

In their small kitchen area, Kaito dropped a pot onto the stove with a clatter and dumped in some water without really measuring. Then he tossed in several bricks of cheap ramen, not even bothering to pick out packages of the same flavors. The rich scent of mixing broths curled up from the stove as the water bubbled.

“So,” Kaito started when Shinichi came back into the kitchen and dropped heavily onto a chair at the table. “You haven’t said a word about the phone call. What have we got?”

“At a guess?” Shinichi sighed. “Amateur hour.”

Kaito stopped his impatient prodding at the ramen bricks and turned toward Shinichi, the chopsticks still hovering over the pot. “What? The hijackers or–?”

“Chartreuse,” Shinichi answered.

Kaito gave him a dubious look then turned back to the pot. “I don’t know. If he’s really the one who handled the phone hack and the signal blocker, that was pretty well done.” Extremely well done, if Kaito was being completely honest – streamlined, neat, and completely remote while still being untraceable. “You’re not underestimating, uh, him? Her?”

“Him,” Shinichi confirmed. “And no. I agree, he’s smart, but he’s got to be so young. He’s got the confidence of someone who’s never been on the wrong side of a gun, or even the right side of one. Y’know? Ruffles easily.”

“Could be an act,” Kaito suggested, but Shinichi could already see in the easing tension of his shoulders that Kaito trusted his judgment.

“Na,” Shinichi went on anyway. “You should have heard how he answered the phone. Cocky as I used to be. I don’t think he’s ever met someone smarter than him.”

“Oh, _that_ should be fun,” Kaito scoffed. He dished out some noodles into two bowls and carefully tipped some broth in over them. The steam billowed up around the kitchen light as he brought the bowls to the table and sat down. Shinichi split a cheap pair of chopsticks from a pile on the table and worked off the splinters like he was sharpening knives.

“So that’s the good news, anyway,” he added, a little mumbled as he ducked close to a scoop of noodles to blow at the steam.

“Of _course_ there’s bad news,” Kaito replied. “Go on.”

Shinichi gulped down a large mouthful and immediately made for the fridge to crack open a bottle of iced coffee. He picked up a bottle of chocolate milk while he was at it and dropped it by Kaito’s bowl on the way back to his seat.

“I’m actually not a hundred percent on the details, but he tossed out a threat while we were talking. Veiled, you know? Dramatic. He said I’d come to them when they want me to because I’ve got ‘so many friends around the world now.’”

Kaito swirled his noodles around the bowl. “So, they’ll target someone you know, somewhere in the world, and get you to go there?”

“I guess,” Shinichi said. “If they haven’t started already.”

Kaito sharpened. His hand stilled.

“I was thinking,” Shinichi said. “About Lupin’s call the day after my birthday. He said an Organization member called Zivania had tried to poison them all, and after she’d failed she warned them to stay away from me. What if she was sent after them as a means of getting to me?”

“But you were _in _Germany. Why would they wait for you to leave?”

“I’ve been thinking about that, too.” Shinichi finished off his noodles and went to the pot for more. “Remember how Jenever ran? The minute I got in the country she went into hiding. Said she was following orders. But Chartreuse clearly likes pushing the limits of his involvement with me. He said he had ‘people’ who set the bomb on our plane for him, and he set me on Jenever’s trail so she’d have no choice but to try and kill me.”

“Then in Germany, he didn’t bother trying to get Zivania to cooperate,” Kaito said slowly, working it through. Shinichi slid back into his seat with his bowl.

“Right. Instead, he tried to trick her. Had her go after Lupin and his crew since _they’re_ not against orders.”

“Then why’d she warn them about you?”

“Lupin said my name just came up. It might have been an honest warning,” Shinichi said with a shrug.

“So then,” Kaito continued. “What happened in Paris?”

Shinichi leaned back against his chair, took a sip of coffee, and let out a sigh. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m sure the dead man in the hotel room was an Organization member, and that my fake client killed him and… set the fire.” He fiddled with the plastic ring on the coffee bottle. Kaito pretended to focus on his ramen while he watched him. “But I don’t know who ‘Carol Keating’ ultimately was,” Shinichi went on. “It could have been Chartreuse, I guess, but it doesn’t… _fit_ right with him.”

“Okay, well, Paris aside, what about New York?” Kaito asked. “Nothing happened to us there.”

“Nothing happened to us in Germany either. That’s what makes Paris so strange, because New York…” He took out his phone, opened a text conversation, and slid it across the table for Kaito to read. “Was actually just like Germany.”

Kaito peered down at the phone as he scooped up more noodles, but he quickly moved to flick the text conversation along. As he read, his expression grew darker, his lips and eyes and jaw all tightening subtly, his ramen forgotten.

The texts were between Shinichi and his father. Shinichi had apparently texted Yusaku as soon as the police had let them all off the bus, asking if there was a recent Organization case Yusaku was keeping from him. From the quick and thorough reply, Yusaku obviously hadn’t seen any point in lying about it if Shinichi had already deduced enough to ask.

_“I noticed someone snooping around last month following your mother and me so we decided to get lunch with an old FBI friend. Caught them quickly enough. He’s called Lager.” _

“Why didn’t he tell you last month?” Kaito asked, incredulous, though the answer was there on the phone, just below. Shinichi had demanded to know the same via text.

“My mother,” Shinichi answered anyway, voice flat and a little bit bitter. “Who thinks I’m a mental case because it’s more dramatic than my learning to cope. She told him not to tell me.”

Kaito groaned and slid the phone back across the table. “They’re gonna get you killed, I swear.”

Shinichi smiled. “You wouldn’t see a family of phantom thieves behaving like this,” he agreed. And it was true. Kaito’s family was by no means short on teasing, drama, or fun, but at the same time Shinichi had never met a single person anywhere more reliable than the Kurobas (a name which, as far as Shinichi was concerned, encompassed Jii and Mirla as well). Shinichi set his chopsticks down and picked up his bowl to sip at the warm broth. Kaito was looking pensively into his own bowl.

“You know what we need to figure out now,” Shinichi said.

“If they intend to make a habit of this – and they clearly do based on Chartreuse’s threat – who else are they gonna target?”

Shinichi nodded. “The troupe should be safe since we’re all traveling together. It’s people I leave behind.”

“Was there anyone in London we should worry about?” Kaito wondered.

“I don’t think so,” Shinichi answered. “Hakuba left for France the same day I left for the Netherlands. He’s the only one I can think of. What about Roos Willemsen, in Amsterdam?”

“She’s fine so far at least. Still doing shows. Besides, you didn’t even speak to her. Between that and Jenever’s arrest, I’d say she’s safe.”

“Lupin and Jigen and everyone were already targeted and Zivania was arrested,” Shinichi ticked off. “So I think that’s Berlin covered…” He trailed off, and the tension ratcheted up a few notches between them. Paris. An Organization member may have died there, but it was possible Carol Keating was another, and they’d left not only Mirla, but also Ruby and her family behind there.

“I’ll call Ruby,” Kaito said, his chair already skittering back.

“I’ve got Romain-sensei.”

They both retreated to separate corners to make their calls.

Neither of them could get a hold of Mirla. Kaito had spoken with Ruby and warned her to be alert just in case, but Ruby hadn’t seemed worried.

“I ‘ave a lot to protect now,” she’d told him. “I am always alert. But things ‘ave been quiet. Of course, I will let you know if zat changes.”

It was good enough. It had to be, because Mirla was not answering their calls or texts, not even from KID’s white flip phone. A call to the hospital where she worked, with Kaito speaking in very quick, very agitated French, confirmed she’d been conspicuously absent since mid-May.

Shinichi didn’t need to follow the exact words of the conversation or even wait for it to be over to know it wasn’t good news. He opened Chikage’s contact in his phone and put the call through without waiting.

“Chikage-san,” Shinichi said the moment the ringing cut off. “Have you heard from Mirla Romain-sensei at all lately?”

There was a pause before she answered, tight and terse, “Where’s Kaito? Is he hurt?”

“No,” Shinichi said quickly. “Sorry, he’s fine, he’s on the phone. We think Romain-sensei is missing.”

She went tense all over again. “Tell me what happened.”

By that time, Kaito had ended his own call and nudged Shinichi into speakerphone. The two of them laid out their theory and Chikage could offer no alternative reason that Mirla would neglect to answer them.

“I’m going back to Paris,” Shinichi said firmly. He’d already pushed the phone into Kaito’s hands and taken two steps toward the bedroom when Chikage’s voice pulled him up short.

“You will _not_,” she began dangerously. “Be so thickheaded as to blunder around alone in Paris making a target of yourself for no good reason.”

Kaito, who had opened his mouth to make a similar protest, closed it promptly.

Shinichi turned back. “I have to find her–” he tried, but Chikage didn’t let him go on.

“You’re a detective,” Chikage said, and some kind of unspoken threat still sat heavy in each word. “Deduce for me, then, why the Organization didn’t _tell you _they’d done something with Mirla.”

“But Chartreuse _did _say–”

“That you’d come to them when they want you to. So, you think their plan is to drop vague hints and hope you figure things out at a time that’s convenient for them? You’ll _know _if they’ve done something because it’ll be to their advantage that you do.”

“Then what happened to Romain-sensei?” Kaito cut in. “If not them, then what?”

“Mirla is in _our_ business, Kaito,” Chikage said. “She’s careful, and she’s made preparations that can keep her safe. She has for as long as I’ve known her.”

Shinichi had had his head tilted down, hand at his chin, but he suddenly looked up. “You think she went underground. They came after her, but they couldn’t get to her.”

“That’s right,” Chikage answered. “And if so, she’ll have left a message for an ally who might come looking. _I _will go to Paris and make sure she’s safe. It’s not a code you can decipher anyway – you can’t solve it, you have to know it.”

“But why not just _text_ you?” Kaito insisted.

Chikage’s next sigh showed a hint of aggravation. “_Think_, Kaito. Chartreuse is clearly brilliant with technology. Electronic communication is never one hundred percent guaranteed to be safe. That’s why we _have_ this code. And really, the two of you ought to have one as well. Get on it. I’ll send news when I can.”

She ended the call and Kaito almost dropped the phone. “She’s _pissed_,” he said weakly.

Shinichi moved closer and took Kaito’s hand. “Romain-sensei is one of her oldest friends, isn’t she? She’s probably just worried. About her and about you.”

Kaito groaned and handed Shinichi his phone back.

“So basically we’re all really worried about everybody else, to the point of going nuts,” he muttered. Shinichi immediately reached out and caught his wrist to stop him from walking away.

“Kaito?”

His tone said there was no getting out of it. Kaito turned slowly back to him.

“I’m just… really tired, Shinichi,” Kaito confessed, deflating with it. “I hate suspecting the troupe and I hate wondering if you’re safe and I hate all the nightmares – mine _and _yours. I’m just sick of it all and I want it to be over ‘cause we don’t _deserve _this, Shinichi, we don’t–”

He cut off into something uncomfortably close to a sob, knocked out of him by the force of the hug Shinichi had wrapped him in.

For a long time Shinichi was quiet. He had things to say, but all of them were strictly conciliatory. He couldn’t offer an end date or promise a resolution, and Kaito knew that.

He waited until some of the tension went out of Kaito, then adjusted his grip into a more gentle one, letting his hand rub across Kaito’s back. “Let that go too long, huh,” Shinichi murmured against his neck. He felt Kaito nod then sigh, the last of the outburst clearing from the mood of the room. “Let’s clean up dinner. Chikage-san’s got things covered for now. I’ll read through the material for Jenever’s missing person case again tonight in case anything jumps out now that we know more about ‘Charlie’.” He smiled at Kaito when they pulled apart, then went to the stove to take care of the ramen pot while Kaito cleared the table.

“About the Jenever case,” Kaito said slowly when they were both standing at the sink. “Who is Chartreuse’s ‘dear mother’? The one who turned him against Jenever.”

Shinichi scrubbed quietly at the pot. “…I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: The conversation about the deep dish pizza at the beginning of this chapter is an actual conversation I overheard between an Australian tourist and a Chicago native. 
> 
> Merry holidays, my deers! I have done so very much baking and socializing over the past couple days, but there's a little lull in the festivities until the next bit so I'm taking the chance to deliver my holiday gift to you :3 There's been a lot of fluff these past few chapters but we all knew it couldn't last (not as long as I'm driving this fic lol) so I hope you enjoyed this little adventure as things ratchet right on up toward the end of the tour - only 2 destinations to go!
> 
> ♥DS


	14. Chapter 14

_Las Vegas Nevada, USA_

_Mid-July_

*

“Ugh. I don’t know about curses, but he is certainly slippery.”

“It’s fine. He’s in Vegas now. Home field advantage.”

“Be_ careful_.”

Chartreuse laughed into the phone. “You’re starting to sound as paranoid as the bosses. Is Vermouth finally getting under your skin after all? She warned you again after the bus hijacking, didn’t she.”

It wasn’t really a question so Bishop ignored it. “You can’t deny he’s good at what he does. I wanted to prove it was nonsense to run and hide from one kid but we’re losing people to him, Charlie. Don’t be one of them.”

“Won’t be a problem.” Chartreuse listened but the silence over the line stretched. “You’re that worried?” he finally asked, a little sharp with irritation.

“I know you do good work, Charlie, but… would you mind if your sister and I scrape together a bit of leverage for you? Just in case?”

This time Chartreuse was quiet. Eventually he answered, “All right Mum. If it’ll make you feel better.”

“Thank you, love.”

*

There was something about being intimately familiar with the kind of adrenaline-wracked nerves that accompanied life-or-death challenges that made Kaito so deeply appreciate the entirely different kind of nervous anticipation of the backstage wait before a live show. And this was a live show in _Vegas_.

He wished he could enjoy it more.

It wasn’t time for final checks yet. Everyone was still bustling around chaotically, but his was a solo act this time and he was already as prepared as he could be. He stayed out of the way and watched the others while keeping a cursory eye on his own props, just in case. He might not have wanted to believe any of the troupe members were enemies, but being careless with stage magic was risky at the best of times. He knew better.

And even so, he saw something a few minutes later that made him forget his cautious watch entirely. Someone had just slipped backstage. She blended flawlessly into the bustle and walked like she belonged. The few people who did notice her did double-takes and their expressions went puzzled, like they were wondering if they should recognize her.

Kaito did recognize her. He pushed away from the wall, strode right up to her almost before she’d spotted him, and grabbed onto her cheek, hard.

“Kaito–!”

“Six days,” Kaito replied in sharp, hissed Japanese. “What the hell, Kaa-san? You could have been dead for all we knew.”

Chikage batted Kaito’s hand away and put her hands on her hips. “What part of ‘electronic communication isn’t safe’ did you miss?”

“And Romain-sensei?” Kaito demanded, rushed and anxious. He could feel the brief glances of the troupe members around them, but for the most part they continued about their business.

“Safe,” Chikage answered. Kaito’s shoulders slumped with relief. “I found her holed up in Paris but I wanted her a little closer to home so I’ve got her in one of your dad’s old places now. She’ll be fine there for as long as we need.”

Her last statement caught the words out of Kaito’s throat. _For as long as we need. _How long would Mirla be away from her home and her job just because he and Shinichi had decided to visit her in Paris? How long would she be hunted? How many more people were they going to do this to?

“Kaito,” Chikage said gently. “She’s safe. That’s what matters. And you haven’t done a thing wrong.” She took his hand then and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Giving up now is what they _want_ you to do. They can’t face you – either of you. They are _crumbling_ now. In these last twenty-five years I’ve never had so much hope.” She smiled up at him and Kaito let out a shaky breath.

“Right–” Kaito started to answer, but it was cut off when Nadette passed behind him and whacked him on the back.

“Secrets don’t make friends, Kite,” she said cheerfully, then paused and doubled back to peer at Chikage. “Who’re you?”

“Uh, Nat, this is my mum,” Kaito answered, switching back to English. “And before you ask, no, I didn’t sneak her back here. She just sort of… turned up. I didn’t even know she was in the country.”

Chikage grinned and stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said in somewhat halting English.

Nadette shook her hand. “Er, yeah, you too.” Then she leaned over toward Kaito and muttered, “Seriously how did your _mom _get back here?” She clearly assumed Chikage couldn’t understand what she was saying.

“Probably by accident – she can’t read the signs,” Kaito supplied. “I better help her. Be right back!” He slung his arm around Chikage’s shoulders and started ushering her toward a side door that led out into a back hallway.

“Oh, but I wanted to see more backstage!” she complained.

“Then sneak back again in a minute, and this time don’t let anyone see you,” Kaito reasoned at her.

“Why can’t you let me enjoy this? My boy, finally on a Vegas stage.” Her voice had gone dreamy, hands clasped at her chest.

“Enjoy it all you want!” Kaito sighed, fully exasperated. “But I need to get back over there.”

“You weren’t even _doing _anything,” Chikage accused hotly.

“I was keeping an eye out for trouble. And now that I’ve left my stuff lying around, I’d like to go check it over, if you don’t mind.”

There was nothing Chikage could say to that, so instead she grabbed his ear and tugged his face closer to kiss his cheek.

“Kaa-saaaan,” he whined.

She just patted him. “Love you, Kaito. You’ll be great.” She started down the hallway, peeking around corners with interest as she went.

“Hey, talk to Shinichi if you see him,” Kaito called after her. She gave a wave of acknowledgement, and then she was gone.

The troupe’s first Vegas show not only went flawlessly, but spectacularly. Shinichi, from his seat in the audience, could tell that something had lifted from Kaito’s mind as he watched him perform. He hoped it meant good news on Mirla.

That hope was confirmed when Kaito, Shinichi, Chikage, and Jii (who had come to see Kaito’s show, but had declined to sneak backstage) finally gathered together in the lobby after the show. They kept their conversation on magic and inconsequential vagaries about Shinichi’s work during an impromptu fancy dinner, courtesy of Chikage. But then Chikage insisted they bring her and Jii back to their Vegas housing for a visit. Shinichi and Kaito both gratefully agreed.

The first thing Kaito had done upon arriving in Vegas, as was his custom, was check the room for any tampering. Ever since the plane bombing he’d also completed the exercise by setting up a few closed circuit monitoring devices, just to be sure everything _stayed_ secure. Shinichi always supplemented these with his own touches – tricks he’d picked up here and there like small, thin strips of clear plastic under their drawers, and pencil lead in the door hinges.

But even after they’d confirmed that everything was secure, they didn’t talk about business. Not really. Instead, they relaxed. They built card houses and ate ice cream and chatted about ciphers Shinichi and Kaito could use for their own personal emergency code.

And after Shinichi and Kaito had seen Chikage and Jii safely back to their (secured) hotel rooms, they went home and gave in to a comfortable kind of exhaustion, and the nightmares stayed away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it with that fluffffff XD I can't help myself lol But since this was another short, sort of light chapter and it's the new year and all I thought I'd put it up a bit early. Happy new year, my deers! Thanks for stickin' with me~! ♥


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aargh I'm kinda late getting this posted and I know I still have a couple comments I haven't responded to yet but I got back from work really late and I have like a million things I need to do between now and Saturday night aaaaaahhhh!!! *flails and runs away*

_Las Vegas Nevada, USA_

_August_

Mr. Kudou,

All of my female friends have nothing but good things to say about you, but I admit I never hoped any of it was true until today. I hope you can help me.

I work at the Venetian. Last night I caught a bus back to my apartment after work, same as always, but I was feeling sort of light-headed. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, but the next thing I knew I was standing outside Barneys New York in the canal shops by the hotel and it was more than an hour later.

I couldn’t really believe it at first but the more I checked my phone the more it seemed like I had just… lost time. I have no idea why I would have gone back to the canal shops or why I can’t remember doing it. By this morning I had really freaked myself out about it. I don’t like not knowing what happened during those 72 minutes. I’m hoping you can help me figure it out.

I wish I could provide you with more information. Let me know if you’ll take the case.

Regards,

Michael Harris

The message was waiting on Shinichi’s website when he woke up that morning. Shinichi read over the email a few times. Ever since the bus hijacking in Chicago he’d been even more watchful of the cases he took than he’d been after the hotel fire in Paris. This case couldn’t be solved remotely but that was fine. He could still accept it. He just had a few things he needed to take care of first.

Shinichi sent a reassuring reply to Michael asking to meet at the Venetian the next night, then focused in on his work. When the time came though, Shinichi cancelled with a last minute email. Kaito was reading over his shoulder silently as Shinichi typed up a request to move the time to early the next morning. They both waited to see if a quick response would come through, Shinichi’s fingers tapping a nervous, choppy rhythm onto a stack of little papers beside his keyboard.

Michael did respond quickly. He agreed to the new time, but also requested to move the place slightly. Kaito’s hand slid onto Shinichi’s shoulder and squeezed gently. Shinichi took a breath, nudged the dove on the table away from the keyboard, and typed his agreement.

Early in the morning, when the blazing sun of the Nevada desert had barely cut the horizon, Shinichi stood near one of the entrances of The Venetian Casino waiting for Michael. And he was waiting a while. He checked his site for any contact from him. He reported Michael’s lateness to Kaito, who had offered to come along but had conceded on the point of client-confidentiality. He kept a wary eye on his surroundings.

Eventually a message did appear on his site: “Running really late I’m so sorry are you still there?” Shinichi answered, then received back: “Be there in a minute.”

When a young man came jogging toward the casino from the direction of the Venetian hotel, Shinichi raised his hand and waved him over.

“Mr. Kudou?” Michael asked, a bit breathless. He was, Shinichi observed, the skinniest, nerdiest thing he’d seen in a while. He was wearing thick-rimmed glasses and skinny jeans that disappeared into his high-top yellow Converse. His hair was sort of artfully messy, a few of the springy black curls escaping the short ponytail he had tied at the back of his head. Shinichi had to look twice to determine if Michael was wearing makeup, but he wasn’t. His light brown skin and appealing bone structure just gave him a particular kind of natural beauty.

“Mr. Harris,” Shinichi said, offering his hand. Michael took it.

“Sorry I’m so late. I’m such a mess. Haven’t been sleeping well since, well, that night. You know.”

“It’s fine. I’m the one who moved our meeting at the last minute. But we’re both here now. How about we start by retracing your steps as far as you can remember.”

They spent all morning together combing through Michael’s routines and anything that had strayed from the ordinary that night. By noon, Michael seemed exasperated. “Are you making any progress?” he asked over the sound of the waterfall in the atrium outside the Venetian. They had already been on and off of Michael’s usual buses, through the hotel where he worked, and around the shops he’d found himself near when he’d “woken up”, as he put it.

Shinichi made a noncommittal sound.

“I need a drink,” Michael muttered quietly. “Do you mind? There’s a good place in the casino.” He pointed down the walkway that extended out from the atrium, back toward the place they had met that morning. “They do a great burger, too.”

“If you want, we can stop for today–”

“And keep wondering? No thanks. There must be something I just haven’t thought of yet that’ll click for you.”

Shinichi agreed with a shrug and they returned to the entrance of The Venetian Casino and made their way inside.

Black Tap Craft Burger and Beer was tucked right on the floor of the casino and it was loud in both volume and décor. Bold black and white patterns covered the floor and continued up the sides of the horseshoe shaped bar area. Retro-styled images of cassette tapes and pouty pink lips formed out of neon lights dotted the walls. Most of the black booths and tall bar chairs were filled.

Michael found them two seats at the bar and they sat down. Waters were placed in front of them very promptly. So promptly, in fact, that by the time Shinichi looked up he couldn’t tell which of the black T-shirted bartenders had set them there. Michael waved another one over and asked for menus, then continued to keep his gaze subtly away from Shinichi for long enough to be unnatural. Shinichi let out a short huff through his nose.

“So, we’ve come full circle I guess,” he said, and it would have sounded perfectly casual except for the fact that he’d murmured it quietly, almost under his breath, to Michael.

Michael finally glanced back toward him. “What?”

“Poison,” Shinichi clarified under the noise all around. “That’s how _all_ of this started. For me anyway.” He drew a finger down the side of his water glass, leaving a streak in the condensation. “Is this one untraceable in autopsies too?”

Michael looked nervous. Not a guilty sort of nervous, though. More like he thought Shinichi might be unbalanced. He slipped his phone from his pocket like he wanted it ready in his hand. “What… are you talking about?”

“Drop it,” Shinichi replied. “We’ve both spent all morning just feeling each other out. I’m tired of all the acting. Aren’t you?”

Michael’s chair edged back a bit, the sound of it harsh on the tiled floor. “Look, maybe this whole thing – the case – isn’t such a big deal. We don’t need to–”

“Charlie,” Shinichi said firmly, cutting him off. “I’ve contacted the FBI. I don’t care if you want to keep pretending to be a harmless client or not, but either way you’re safer if you sit back down and keep talking with me. I’d prefer not to have this come down to guns.”

Michael sat. Chartreuse smiled. “I’m surprised you bothered to come at all.” His British accent was back and his whole demeanor was cool confidence now. More than half of his attention was on his phone, like sitting beside the Silver Bullet that terrorized his organization wasn’t dangerous in the least. “Why not leave it to your FBI mates and keep out of the line of fire yourself?” He took Shinichi’s glass, caught the eye of a blonde woman with short, full curls behind the bar, and passed the untouched drink over to her.

“I’m the bait,” Shinichi answered. He watched the woman for as long as he could before she disappeared into what was most likely the kitchen. “No reason for you to walk into an arranged meeting set by me if I didn’t turn up to be killed.”

“So you expected I’d be suspicious.” Chartreuse had pocketed his phone again but he still wasn’t looking at Shinichi. They were both looking forward, watching the activity on the other side of the bar without really seeing it.

“You changed the location and arrived late,” Shinichi said. “I assume that was meant to throw off any traps I might have set.”

“You changed it first.”

“To throw off any traps _you_ might have set,” Shinichi agreed. His phone was buzzing in his pocket – a phone call, not a text – but he ignored it. He didn’t feel as confident or as foolish as Chartreuse. He wouldn’t let himself be distracted.

“And now you say you’ve got the FBI around here somewhere? Well I suppose I’m done for, aren’t I. Bested by the great Shinichi Kudou; whatever will I do?” Chartreuse snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Charlie,” Shinichi tried again. “You’re too smart for this. It’s only a matter of time before the Organization is whittled away to nothing. They don’t even have the resources to follow up on turncoats now. Get out while it’s still your choice. You could help us. Lessen your sentence.”

He caught a glimpse of Chartreuse’s face. He looked both affronted and disgusted. “There’ll be no _sentence_ to lessen. You’re the only one I’ve met face to face as Chartreuse, and you won’t be living long enough to tell anybody about it. After all,” He took his phone out again, tapped out of the displayed text, then pulled up another screen to show Shinichi. It was one of the messages Shinichi had sent to the FBI confirming their plans. “I can hack _anything_.”

Shinichi went icily still and Chartreuse’s smile turned smug. He looked to the opposite side of the bar again and raised a hand at two men who were sitting across from them. They both stood and came around to their side to stand behind them. One of them – a man with fair hair, narrow eyes, and glasses – closed a firm hand on Shinichi’s arm and subtly tugged him up from the tall bar stool.

“You’ll come quietly, Kudou,” Chartreuse went on, sounding arrogantly bored. “Unless you want Amarula to serve that poison to the whole bar.”

Shinichi’s eyes darted to the bartenders again. The blonde woman had returned from the kitchen. She caught his eye and winked at him with a wicked pink smirk before carrying on with her customers. Shinichi went quietly.

Chartreuse led the way out of Black Tap and back onto the casino floor. The staff paid them no mind at all as they walked past the tables and machines to a very nondescript door near one of the casino’s entrances. Chartreuse typed in a code on a keypad and the four of them headed inside.

The two men continued to guide Shinichi along from behind, pushing him lightly after Chartreuse, but they were not handling him roughly at all. There were still a few casino staff members around in the long, cluttered back room they were passing through. But then their group filed through another door into a bare hallway, followed it down a short distance, and went through one more door into a much smaller utility store room. Shinichi noted immediately the lack of cameras, though he had no doubt it was Chartreuse’s intention to clear himself and his men from any security records once their task was complete anyway.

“Shoot him,” Chartreuse said without preamble the moment the door was closed. He hadn’t even taken his hand from the knob. “A few times, actually, to be sure. Leave him here when you’re done. I’ll clean up the footage of us coming here long before anybody finds him.”

He turned back toward the door but paused when the man still gripping Shinichi’s arm asked in a calm voice, “You’re not going to watch?”

“Do I _need_ to?” Chartreuse sneered over his shoulder.

The second man left Shinichi’s side and inserted himself bodily between Chartreuse and the door, forcing him to let go of the knob without even touching him – simply by crowding him out. He was huge compared to Chartreuse, and Chartreuse took a step back. “Might be good for you to see what murder actually looks like,” the guy said.

The man restraining Shinichi shoved him to his knees, releasing his arm but keeping a hand pressing steadily down on Shinichi’s shoulder. When he set his gun barrel firmly against Shinichi’s skull, Shinichi flinched, trying to resist the urge to bow his head just for the useless comfort of distance from the weapon. He took a deep breath and glanced at Chartreuse out of the corner of his eye.

“You’re just lackeys,” Chartreuse was saying. “You can’t go against an order from a ranked member. Get out of my way. And make sure you’ve got a silencer on before you shoot him.”

“I’ve got a gun,” the lackey by the door said, pulling it out. “All you’ve got is a name. Kind of sounds like I can do what I want.”

“Think about it!” Chartreuse’s voice was a bit higher now – a tinge of fear that any bully could scent like blood in the water. “Think what Bishop will do to you!”

The man by the door considered that. “What do I care what Bishop thinks?” he decided.

“Rum, then!” Chartreuse shot back. “I’m useful, remember–”

“You’re annoying is what you are–”

“We’re only saying you should watch,” the other man cut in. “Make sure it’s done right. What’s wrong with that?” Chartreuse didn’t answer – didn’t look like he could. “Unless you’d rather do it yourself?”

Chartreuse seemed to be stuck somehow, like his brain couldn’t quite get past that. A minute passed in silence, and then–

“Okay guys, enough.”

The hand on Shinichi’s shoulder lifted at his word and Shinichi got to his feet. Chartreuse’s face seemed to lose a shade of color.

“Camel,” the man behind Shinichi said to the man by the door. “Cuff him.”

Andre Camel removed a pair of handcuffs from under his shirttail and pulled Chartreuse’s hands behind his back to lock them in.

“Wh-What?” Chartreuse stammered.

“You’re sure these will hold him?” Camel asked Shinichi.

Shinichi shrugged. “As much as any old criminal. He’s not like Merlot or KID.”

Camel sighed in relief and tugged at the mask Akai had applied for him. It took him a few tries to get it off and he was sweating underneath it. The man behind Shinichi pocketed his glasses and removed his own mask, shifting from Okiya Subaru to Akai Shuichi in an instant.

There was a soft, short knock at the door and Akai dropped his mask to raise his gun. At the same time, Camel jerked away from the door and turned to face it, tugging Chartreuse along with him by the cuffs.

A familiar voice speaking Japanese carried through the door. “It’s me.”

Shinichi didn’t hesitate. He moved forward and pulled open the door. The blonde woman from the bar, Amarula, stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Ah,” KID said. He put a hand on his hip and tossed his blonde curls. “All wrapped up already?”

Akai lowered his gun and Camel relaxed.

“Chlo– Amarula?” Chartreuse said, and it sounded strangled. KID’s glance was scornful for a flicker of a second before “Amarula” turned all charm.

“Oh, don’t worry, Charlie,” he said sweetly in a woman’s voice. “I haven’t been posing as your girlfriend for long. The real Chloe Johnson was only taken into custody this morning.”

“Please tell me you didn’t kiss him, KID,” Shinichi said flatly, standing close – maybe possessively, Kaito liked to think – at KID’s side.

“Please, Tantei-kun,” KID replied in his own voice and with a hefty layer of disgust. “I have standards.”

“This– This isn’t possible!” Chartreuse finally exploded. “The Phantom Thief KID is in Japan! I read all your messages with the FBI! I got reports that your traps had all been undermined! _How are you all here_?!”

“KID flew in as a favor,” Shinichi answered with a casual shrug. “I contacted him securely as soon as I read your fake case request. I’d been on the lookout for one ever since Chicago. A case that, by its nature, could not be solved over email. A case where the client can’t provide me with information – where I’d _have_ to come to whatever location the client named to investigate. A case that had no grounds for involving the police.”

“The messages that you read between myself and Kudou were all fakes,” Akai went on, picking up the stream of the explanation just as calmly as Shinichi. “KID flew straight to New York to relay the situation to us in person. Then Camel and I accompanied him to Vegas and continued communication by passing messages with trained doves.”

“So no,” KID added smugly, aiming a sharp grin at Chartreuse. “You _can’t _‘hack anything’.”

Camel joined in. “The reports that our plans had been disrupted were also fake. KID took care of those for us after we rounded up your helpers.”

“You lied to your Organization,” Shinichi said. “You told them you were just being opportunistic, taking the initiative to go after some FBI agents who’d strolled into your backyard. They’d never have allowed you extra hands if they’d known who you were really going after.”

He stepped right up to Chartreuse then. They were about the same height but Chartreuse was trapped and tense, practically cowering to the point that he was looking up at Shinichi’s set face. “How long have you been a ranked member, Chartreuse?” Shinichi asked. “Can’t be long. You were probably the best they could do – just filling in gaps after they’d lost so many members in the last few years. You were arrogant. If you’d taken any time to get to know your subordinates you’d have realized these two weren’t part of your ranks, but I knew you wouldn’t. That you’d think it beneath you. And on top of all those mistakes, you forgot who you were dealing with. After all, all those other ranked members locked up in jail? _We’re _the ones they were lost to.”

Angry tears were shining in Chartreuse’s eyes now. He lunged forward with something like a snarl but Camel held him back easily. Shinichi didn’t even flinch.

“Time to go,” Akai said. “KID?”

KID opened the door of the storeroom and stepped out into the hallway. “You’ll want to go that way,” he said, pointing. “Turn right at the end and then take the first left. Security’s break room is down that way. Someone there can advise on how the casino would prefer this handled so as not to cause a scene. Or, at the very least, they can find you someone who can.”

Camel prodded Chartreuse out of the store room and started marching him down the hall. Akai tucked his gun away and followed. They didn’t make it four steps before Chartreuse let out another growl of frustration and wrenched fruitlessly against Camel’s hold.

“Fine,” he shouted. “Fine! You caught me, but things are about to get much worse for you now. When Bishop gets hold of you–” He barked out a bitter laugh. “I’ll bet she gives you to Bloody Mary. And you deserve it!”

The noise had caught some attention. A few employees on either end of the hall were peering cautiously around the corners. No one paid them any mind.

“Move,” Camel said and shoved Chartreuse into step again.

“One more thing,” he called as they went. “One more thing!”

Akai and Camel weren’t listening and Shinichi and KID weren’t following, but Chartreuse’s hysteria carried to them easily anyway. “Have you heard from your fop detective friend lately?” He was cackling now. “I warned you. I _warned_ you!”

The employees at the far end of the hall had scattered. Akai and Camel disappeared around the corner with their captive and his laughter eventually faded from Shinichi and KID’s range of hearing.

“…Chances he was just being a sore loser when he said that?” KID asked. “He didn’t try to bargain.” But his stomach felt like it had dropped inside him somehow. He didn’t want to move. Like if they froze this moment he wouldn’t find out that Hakuba–

“Really… really unlikely,” Shinichi answered through a tight throat. Not only was it more within Chartreuse’s character to make _them _try to bargain first, Shinichi had a bad feeling about what was waiting on his phone. The call he’d received in the bar hadn’t been the only one. His phone had been buzzing on and off in his pocket the whole time. He took it out now and found a slew of missed calls and messages, all from Akako.

He didn’t have to read every text or listen to any of the voicemails to know it. Hakuba was in trouble.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains references to self-harm, specifically cutting. I absolutely do not take this lightly. If you need to skip these references you can use Ctrl+f to skip ahead to "All concern" (do not include the quotation marks) and that will take you past it. As always, please let me know any concerns or questions.

_London, England_

_August_

It was a mild summer evening in London, the sky just beginning to dim, and Hakuba was taking his time walking down the street to find a good place for takeaway. It might have been due to his relaxed state, letting his eyes wander over the shops and his mind wander over its tangents, that he reacted so instinctually when a young woman bumped into him in passing. Hakuba’s hand shot out and he caught her arm before she’d made it two more steps. Just as quickly, she turned and shoved his wallet back at him even as she tried to pull out of his grasp.

“Wait,” Hakuba said, though she couldn’t seem to get free anyway. He fumbled the wallet a little and opened it one-handed to show his badge. “You ought to be more careful of whose pocket you pick,” he said gently.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. She kept her head down, bent low enough that her long, scraggly brown hair blocked her face.

“Will you stay here a moment if I let go?”

She nodded. Hakuba opened the wallet again, took out a few notes, and offered them to her. When she raised her head to glance a question at him he could see dark circles under her eyes. “I’m in a fortunate enough position to be able to afford it, and I admit I have a soft spot for thieves these days. Please take it.”

Slowly, she reached out to accept, and Hakuba saw something else that made his stomach sink in cold alarm. The young woman’s wrist was bloody, brown-red smears covering the pale skin around a few shallow red cuts. But, to Hakuba’s watchful eye, this did nothing to hide the older scars. Those must have been considerably deeper at the time, to leave the raised white lines that they had.

He was staring and it was impossible for her not to notice. The moment she had the money in hand she tucked her arm to her chest and turned away from him, breaking into a run.

“Ah, no, please wait!” Hakuba called after her. He took off as well, vaguely aware of the other people on the street turning to watch as he gave chase.

She was fast. It almost didn’t occur to Hakuba to wonder at that – she wasn’t _KID_-fast after all – but he found himself observing her shoes as he ran after her. The soles were not as worn as he might expect from an impoverished young woman picking pockets on the street, and they certainly fit her well enough to allow her to run unhindered.

The end of his tangent of thought found him at the mouth of an alleyway, darkened by the shadows of the buildings on either side that cut through the glare of the sinking sun. The young woman had run to a skip midway down and ducked against the side of it that faced the opposite end. If Hakuba hadn’t been close enough behind to see her do it, it might have been effective. He stopped running and let out a sigh. If he called out to her, she’d run again. He walked quietly toward the middle of the alley instead.

What he found when he came level with the skip and peered around its corner was enough to make him falter in surprise. The young woman was kneeling on the brick, busying herself with a large rolling trunk that was sitting open before her. In the time it had taken Hakuba to reach her, she had pulled her hair back with a glittery clamp and thrown a long, clean black cardigan over her shabby clothes. As Hakuba stared, she grabbed the last item in the trunk and whirled, surging to her feet and rushing at him.

Instinctively, Hakuba grabbed for her wrists, then just as instinctively let go when he felt the sticky blood under his palms. It cost him. The young woman had grabbed onto his arm almost bodily and turned her back to his chest so that the limb was extended out in front of her under her own arm. Her elbow crushed Hakuba’s against her side and she wrenched his blazer sleeve back to get at his wrist. Hakuba felt the unmistakable single point of pain as a needle was shoved in.

All concern or sympathy for the woman was lost. Hakuba grabbed at her anywhere he could, found purchase, and flung her away from him. There was enough force behind it that she stumbled and fell onto the bricks beside the open trunk, but she’d left the needle behind, sticking out of Hakuba’s arm.

The damage was done. He knew that, but Hakuba wrenched the needle free anyway and threw it away from himself, back down the alley in the direction he’d come from. At least, he thought he did. His vision was blurring and he didn’t hear it hit the pavement at all. Vaguely he looked down at his empty hand, half expecting the needle to still be there given the lack of evidence that he’d truly thrown it. Then, stomach lurching, he took a few staggering steps and suddenly found himself lying on his side on the ground. That seemed to make it easier to think, at least. His senses cleared marginally just by subtracting the effort it was to stand.

The rattle of the young woman’s trunk rolling across the brick came nearer from behind him. It stopped and he waited, maybe holding his breath, he wasn’t sure.

Nothing happened.

Nothing continued to happen.

With a great effort, Hakuba rolled onto his back. The young woman was right there, standing over him, and the large, empty trunk was tipped on its side right beside him. He knew what would be coming next, but for now the woman was focused on a phone in her hand.

That seemed like a great idea to Hakuba. Another intense effort which he bore without uttering a sound so as not to draw the woman’s attention, and Hakuba was on his side again. He curled in on himself and slipped his phone from the inside pocket of his blazer.

_“Rolling trunk,”_ he texted into whatever conversation was already open, and sent it. _“To car.” _Send. _“I think.” _Send. _“Drugged.” _Send.

“That’s enough of that.”

The phone was lifted out of his hand. He didn’t have the strength to resist.

_“Drunk. Sorry. Ignore all that,” _the woman sent with Hakuba’s phone. Then she tossed it into the skip. “Don’t worry. We want you found. Just not yet.” Her voice was low and sort of… papery, Hakuba thought.

She started dragging him awkwardly into the trunk like he was an overlarge rag doll. His back went in first, his long legs and arms folded up against his chest, and the trunk was shoved upright again with him fully inside and stuck in the position of a flipped turtle. When the lid closed over him, shutting him into darkness, his consciousness finally gave out.

_Las Vegas_

At the beginning of summer, Hakuba had gone back to England to work there for a while. He’d kept in touch with all of his friends and with his father. None of them had had any indication that something was wrong, including Shinichi and Kaito themselves. Akai had searched Chartreuse’s phone at Shinichi’s request but found nothing useful – just a vague but damning message from a contact called Bishop that had come through while Shinichi and Chartreuse had been sitting at the bar. All it said was that they’d gotten “the leverage”. That was all the information Shinichi had gathered in the short time it took for him and Kaito to get back to their Vegas housing.

The first thing Kaito did was snatch up his phone. He never carried it as KID and he was sure there would be a flood of calls and messages from Akako if she’d had to resort to calling Shinichi in the end. But there was one message he _wasn’t_ expecting – a voicemail from Jii. The call looked like it had come in just as they’d made it back.

_“Kaito-sama, I think something has happened with Hakuba-kun. Call me right away if I don’t get a hold of you first.”_

“Shinichi–” Kaito was just lowering the phone to hit redial, turning to Shinichi, when Shinichi’s phone rang.

“It’s Jii-san,” Shinichi said. He was at Kaito’s side in a moment, answering the call on speakerphone. “Jii-san–”

“I trust,” Jii started, and he sounded agitated and fretful. “That Kaito-sama is–”

“Fine, Jii-chan,” Kaito answered. “The arrest went as planned.” They’d contacted Jii ahead of time to ensure that “KID” would make no appearances or contact in Japan while Kaito was assisting with the arrest. He knew, of course, that Kaito’s phone would not be on him during that time, but they all had a healthy fear of what the Organization was capable of. More than a healthy fear, in some cases. “Jii-chan,” Kaito said again, firmly. “Hakuba?”

“He sent a very strange message to his mother and housekeeper,” Jii answered, far steadier now. “Baya-san saw fit to reach out to me. I will send you what she sent me.” As a screenshot pinged onto Kaito’s phone, Jii explained, “I’m told he had just been discussing with them what to bring home for dinner when these came through.”

Shinichi stared at the phone.

_Rolling trunk_

_To car_

_I think_

_Drugged _

_Drunk. Sorry. Ignore all that._

“He’d just left the station,” Jii continued. “It is too unusual to ignore.”

Kaito glanced at Shinichi but Shinichi seemed unable to speak. “It’s the Organization, Jii-chan,” Kaito said. “Chartreuse, one of the ones we arrested, he hinted that something had happened to Hakuba. We have to assume they… have him.”

“Yes,” Jii agreed, but the word seemed to cost him an effort. “What can I do to help?”

Shinichi very suddenly found his voice. “Get me the contact information for Hakuba’s station, his mother, and his housekeeper. Kaito, I want you to hack into the CCTV and look for any suspicious activity around eight PM London time near Hakuba’s station once we know where it is. If you can’t manage it remotely then send a patch with me and tell me how to set it up. I’ll take care of it when I get there.”

“Get there?” Kaito repeated. “If you’re going, I’m coming with–”

“You have to stay.” Shinichi tossed out a cursory, “Thanks, Jii-san,” and hung up, turning his full attention to Kaito. “I know that.”

“What are you talking ab–”

“The troupe. I never figured it out. I don’t know who the threat is or what they’ll do when they hear about the sting we just pulled.”

Kaito’s hands clenched. It was… a problematically valid point. Sure, Akai and Camel were still in Vegas, but the FBI hanging around was not the same as a member of the troupe keeping a close eye on everything, poised to act.

“We can’t wait to find out,” Shinichi went on. “Every second is important now. I have to find Hakuba _before_ the Organization tells me what they’ve done. Otherwise we can’t get the drop on them. They’ll be waiting for me.” There was a tightness in those last words – stark fear of what that would mean. But he wasn’t backing down. He was charging at it; fighting against it.

“You’ll have backup,” Kaito insisted. “The Organization Task Force in London.”

Shinichi nodded. “We’ve got a solid lead on where Hakuba disappeared from, and tons of clues to work with. We’ll find him. It’ll be okay.”

“…Okay,” Kaito said, a little stiff, a little reluctant, but committed. “Okay, get going.”

Shinichi swooped in to kiss Kaito almost before he’d gotten the words out. “Two days,” he breathed against the corner of Kaito’s lips. “And I’ll be back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that “baaya” is a term that means something along the lines of “old housekeeper” and may not necessarily be Hakuba’s housekeeper’s name, but I decided that in this ‘verse it _is_ her name, because it gave me the same feeling as jii (essentially “gramps” or similar) being Jii’s actual name and that parallel felt very right. I’m also aware that Baya is likely not Japanese based on her appearance and the fact that she only came over to Japan to accompany Hakuba, but my headcanon for her in this series is that she’s half and half, same as Hakuba, and that’s part of why they’re so close. 
> 
> And with that, I'm gonna go curl up in bed and continue to blow my nose until it finally falls off. See y'all next time~!


	17. Chapter 17

_London, England_

_August_

Hakuba woke flat on his back on a padded surface that felt smooth under his bare skin. He immediately tried to sit up, to get his bearings, but only his head rose. It was enough to glimpse his lack of clothes. Whoever had stripped him had left his underwear at least, but had also strapped his wrists and ankles to some manner of clinical bed – the type that might normally have had a length of disposable paper covering on it.

He wasn’t sure if the restraints or the little square electrodes on his biceps, abs, and thighs should have been more worrying. Thin wires trailed back from the electrodes, hooking him up to something behind his head that he couldn’t see, and each one was feeding a definite electric _hum_ into him. Still, as far as he could tell, they weren’t doing him any harm. At the very least, he doubted they were the reason his heart was beating so frantically. Whether through shadows or sound or some other subtle clue, he was sure there was someone standing just out of his line of sight.

“You woke up too soon.”

The voice was quiet and papery and utterly emotionless.

“Who are you?” It didn’t wholly matter – wouldn’t make a difference in his current position – but it was all Hakuba could think to say.

“Bloody Mary.”

A chill rushed through his blood. It was a given, of course. Organization. Having it confirmed still inspired a new level of fear, though. He swallowed and scrabbled at comforting logic and process as the woman from the alley moved into his field of vision.

_Observe, _he demanded of himself. _What can you see?_

Lab coat and vinyl gloves but no medical mask. Clipboard and pen – right handed. Long, scraggly brown hair clipped in a trailing bunch at the back of her neck just as it had been in the alley. Maybe he hadn’t been unconscious for long.

Bloody Mary had only passed into his limited line of sight in order to walk away from him toward a sparse, office-like desk setup along the wall. There was a laptop open in front of a cushioned rolling chair, and beside that a row of thin black binders. Blood Mary took a seat and picked one of these to flip through, her back to Hakuba.

Heart still racing, Hakuba turned his head back and forth, trying to see as much of the room as possible. It was small, brightly lit, and mostly empty. There was a door on the wall opposite the desk and there didn’t seem to be anyone else in the room. Now would be a fine time to work on escape but… he couldn’t move.

Too soon, Bloody Mary stood again and returned to Hakuba’s side. There was a quiet rattle and Hakuba saw her pull a rolling tray of medical instruments closer from behind Hakuba’s head where he couldn’t see. She selected a syringe and very carefully pulled the plunger back, counting the hash marks on the side with her thumbnail. Her every motion was methodical as she filled the syringe. It did absolutely nothing to calm Hakuba.

“Wh-What is that?” he asked when she brought the needle to his trapped arm. He sounded winded, his voice faint and breathy. His eyes were locked on the needle.

“Just anesthetic.” The needle was already touching his skin and he was shaking with the pointless effort of trying to pull away. But then she suddenly stopped. “Oh,” Bloody Mary said, and she looked away from his arm to find his eyes instead. “They’ll want to know. Have you had a lot of exposure to anesthetics before?”

“I-I…” Hakuba stammered. _Stall! _“Why?”

The first sign of emotion crossed Bloody Mary’s face. Unfortunately for Hakuba, that emotion was impatience. The needle pushed past his skin as she shrugged. “Whatever, never mind.”

She was humming as she removed the empty syringe, an old lullaby Hakuba knew by heart, and the white of the small room faded to black.

_Las Vegas_

Shinichi was barely out the door on his way to the airport when Kaito called Akako back.

“We need to find him and we need to do it _fast_. If we don’t, Shinichi will just be walking into a trap and– and they’ll _both_ be in trouble.”

“I understand,” Akako said. Her calm was agitating but Kaito kept his own with an effort.

“So,” he went on. “We need all the clues we can get.”

“I already told you all I know. Mostly it’s dark, he’s afraid, and he can’t move.”

“But _where_?” Kaito pressed. “Surely you can see _something_–”

“I’ve told you again and again: I see better from a distance. You pulled me back in anyway.”

“They’re in another country! How much more distance do you need?”

“It’s not _physical _distance, Kuroba-kun,” Akako finally snapped, her cool patience weathered by her own worry. “I’m emotionally attached now. When I seek him – or you, or Kudou-kun, or _any_ of our friends – I can’t see them objectively. Instead, I feel them. It’s much less precise.”

Kaito shifted a little. It was uncomfortable, being told that Akako had “emotional attachments” at all, let alone to him and the others.

“Okay,” he muttered. “I’m sorry. I haven’t been listening to you properly. Tell me more about how this works. Maybe we can still find a way to use it. Find a way to help…”


	18. Chapter 18

_London, England_

_August_

Shinichi wasted no time upon arriving in London. He took to the streets and spoke to everyone who might have information on where Hakuba had been the previous night when he’d disappeared. He spoke to Hakuba’s coworkers at the station first:

“Saguru Hakuba? Yeah, ‘e’s the one who’s in and out all the time.”

“Sure, I think he left here around seven last night?”

“What do you mean ‘don’t tell anyone about this’?”

“Who did you say you were again?”

It took longer than he’d have liked to settle that particular issue and impart to everyone involved how imperative it was that no one knew he was on Hakuba’s trail. If the Organization caught wind of it, things would get much harder.

He spoke with Hakuba’s mother on the phone as he walked the streets near the station:

“Yes, he’s always been fairly habitual. I’m sure that was the route he’d have taken.”

He spoke with Hakuba’s housekeeper:

“Yes, right where you are now, I expect. He mentioned a few of those shops in his texts.”

He spoke with the employees at the shops:

“Las’ night, yeah. Blonde bloke in a suit talkin’ with a dirty little thing just there on the street. Musta said som’in she didn’t like, though, cause she ran off and ‘e went runnin’ after ‘er. Just down that way there.”

He found a used syringe and an empty dumpster in an alley tucked away from the busy sidewalks. Carefully, he collected the syringe into an evidence bag and fixed his focus on his next task: plotting out the web of nearby CCTV cameras for Kaito to check.

*

_Am I awake?_

Hakuba took in a slow, deep breath. Just once before, he’d experienced a horribly realistic dream that had woken him but left him frozen in shock and fear. What had woken him then was the moment his body had broken against an angry grey sea under a sheer cliff face. Maybe he’d had such a dream again. Maybe the Organization _hadn’t_ taken him, and he was home in his bed and the nightmare was over, but…

But, if it was over, why did his body _ache_ like he’d been crammed into a trunk? Why did the bed he was lying on feel so smooth under bare skin? And why could he feel the press of his eyelashes to his cheeks under a blindfold, the shift of his bangs against his forehead as he turned his head experimentally. Why could he _feel _the subtle change in temperature and the movement of the air when someone approached, close at his left side?

“Saguru.”

Hakuba tensed at the papery voice.

“Can you move?”

He wasn’t strapped down. He could feel that, too. He tried to reach for the blindfold even as he started to sit up.

Pain _flared_ again and again and again – his arms, his stomach, his legs. Every miniscule move he made, intentional or not, was like having parts of him split open. His gasp got tangled up in a scream and he went limp again, hoping for relief. The pain – the _pain_ – ebbed a little in his stillness. The blindfold was still in place. He hadn’t even come close to reaching it and now he couldn’t so much as lift his head without his abdomen blistering into fiery agony all over again.

“Good,” Bloody Mary said. “Relax for now. Whenever you feel up to it, you’re free to go.”

The pain was dull now – as long as he stayed still, it seemed – but it took Hakuba a few extra moments to pull his thoughts back together.

_Where am I? Why would she let me go? And what… what is this _pain_? _

His thoughts cut off as gentle hands in dry vinyl gloves closed around his left wrist. Then there was a sudden, fierce grip, a sharp _jerk_, and another scream tore from Hakuba’s throat.

It was too much. It was too _much_. Everything, every tiny little thing was magnified in his body. Too much to be just the deprivation of a single sense heightening the others. This was something else. Something unnatural.

“What did you do?” Hakuba whispered, sobbed, hoarse. “What did you _do_?”

“Sprained your wrist. I thought you were a detective.”

He felt Bloody Mary pinch his cheek and wiggle his head around, and the ridiculous shock of pain the teasing action resulted in made him forget to even try biting her hand. She released his face and for a few moments he was left with the pain pulsing out from his wrist and dwarfing everything else. Then a cold, dry weight settled on that wrist and Bloody Mary was humming that lullaby again. He could feel it just as vividly as the pain and the cold when the blindfold grew damp with his tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters have been short lately. Next one will be longer though ;)


	19. Chapter 19

_London Borough of Havering, England_

_August_

It was early evening, the open sky outside the city not quite dusty with sunset yet. Hakuba had been missing for a little less than twenty-four hours, and Shinichi had pegged a food lab in Havering as his location.

The lab was a short building, only three stories high, and it had very little around it in terms of civilization. Mostly it was surrounded by various fields, so Shinichi and a cluster of Organization Task Force officers chose the tallest crop they could – a questionably chest-height field of thick beige barley – and hunched their way toward the exposed building.

The fields dropped away several yards short of their goal: a grassy enclosure just off the front parking lot with six or seven dairy cows and a cattle transport trailer parked alongside it. They had little choice but to take their chances on the small stretch of open ground as they dashed toward the enclosure’s fence and took up crouches close against it. Keeping low, they edged around and settled between the building side of the fence and the empty trailer, hidden between the two.

There was no time to scope out the location from their new vantage point though. All at once the building disgorged a small crowd of people through the front doors onto the parking lot. All of them were either wearing lab coats or were dressed in black.

The seven Task Force officers drew their guns almost in unison, expecting an onslaught, but Shinichi raised his hand to stay them. Not a single one of the Organization members was looking their way. They all seemed to be heading for the vehicles in the parking lot instead. Two of them were close by and loud enough to overhear.

“–finally gone mental.”

“‘Get out,’ she says. Don’t need to tell _me_ twice. I’ll take a night off.”

“Chartreuse was on radio silence for a while. Something must have happened after all if she’s this pissed off.”

_Who are they talking about? _Shinichi thought._ Bishop, maybe? _And in that same moment he realized that if that were true, Bishop would likely be inviting him to come rescue Hakuba any minute. The advantage of surprise was about to expire.

Shinichi took a silencer from the pocket of the jacket he had over his bulletproof vest and turned to the nearest Task Force officer – a young man named David Plaskitt. In a whisper, he asked, “How good a shot are you?”

“Average,” Plaskitt answered with a shrug.

Shinichi waved him up toward the corner of the cattle trailer and pointed out a motorcycle two aisles away. “Could you blow out one of the tires on that motorcycle? I need one of them to stay behind.”

Plaskitt didn’t take too long in answering, which Shinichi appreciated since the timing would be crucial. “I’m not confident I could.”

“Any of the others?” Shinichi asked, nodding to the other officers. He thought at least one or two of them might be Specialist Firearms Officers but he didn’t find out. Plaskitt handed him his gun.

“I’ve heard how good a shot you are, and none of us would be here if we weren’t prepared to trust you.”

It would be a lie to say Shinichi wasn’t touched by the vote of confidence. He took the gun and screwed on the suppressor. “Not even gonna ask about the silencer?” Shinichi said, because he was only just realizing that it might be weird that he’d brought one – specifically one for the police-issue Glocks.

“No,” Plaskitt said, watching Shinichi take aim around the corner of the trailer. “I’ve also heard that sometimes it’s better not to be too well informed.”

Shinichi’s stomach swooped a little, his mind flying back to an airport in January. _“No, never mind, do not tell me. The less I know, the better.” _Hakuba had been working with these people on the Organization case, going through all the right channels, but Shinichi had decided to make a strike in Vegas and now Hakuba was _leverage_. He could only hope that meant he’d remain unharmed, at least until the Organization made their threats.

As troubling as those thoughts were, Shinichi held the gun steady, keeping his aim as people walked and drove through his intended trajectory. When he finally took the shot, the motorcycle was already moving, pulling into the line of vehicles clotting at the exit of the lot. The bullet punctured the tire and the sound of the blowout punctured the air, followed by the high whistling of escaping air. A few of the surrounding vehicles halted, the drivers likely looking around for the source, but when they saw the biker pulling slowly out of the queue with a bad tire they all continued on their way. Shinichi had entertained the possibility of a Good Samaritan staying to help, but he thought it a safe assumption that only one or two might, and he could have handled that if he’d had to. It was just as well that no one stayed.

Shinichi waited for the other vehicles to clear out. Once they had, the parking lot was empty but for the biker and one parked, empty car. Even better.

“Cover me,” Shinichi said, and he pushed the gun back into Plaskitt’s hands. He didn’t wait for any argument or question. The biker’s back was mostly turned to the trailer and he ran toward her while she was distracted with the bike. He grabbed her, intending to turn her around, but found a better idea tucked under her leather jacket. Shinichi settled a restraining hand on her shoulder and pressed her own gun between her shoulder blades.

“I’m Shinichi Kudou, the one you’ve been warned about,” he said. “And I’m not interested in _you_. Where is Detective Saguru Hakuba being held?”

“Uh.” The sound fell from her lips as her brain tried to catch up to what was happening. Her hands rose slow and empty to shoulder height.

“What floor is he on?” Shinichi pressed. He jabbed the muzzle of the gun a little harder into her back. He didn’t have time to search the whole building. Bishop would be preparing for him even now.

“First floor,” the biker answered. “Just follow the screaming.”

The safety was still on and Shinichi’s finger wasn’t on the trigger, but he still tried to consciously ease his grip on the gun, which had gone white-knuckled at her instructions.

“Is that ‘first floor’ or ‘ground floor’?” he asked with forced calm. People had tried to adjust how they spoke to him based on his own accent before.

“Um, _first_,” she insisted, like he was being unexpectedly dim. “Above the ground floor.”

Shinichi was quiet and still a moment too long apparently. The biker decided to take a chance and spun to Shinichi’s left, twisting out of the grip he’d had on her shoulder and turning to face him with both hands raised and ready to defend. Fortunately for her, Shinichi didn’t want to shoot her. She went for the gun, throwing herself at his right arm, but that only made it easier for Shinichi to get his left arm around her neck, his elbow squeezing tight under her chin. Too late, she released his right arm to pry at his left with both hands, struggling unsuccessfully until the blocked blood flow left her unconscious.

Shinichi lowered her to the pavement. She’d wake within seconds and he was itching to use his sleep dart on her but he knew there was no real need as long as she was unarmed and the Task Force was backing him up. Instead, he searched her quickly for the badge he knew she must have for the swipe-locks on the front doors, then took off across the parking lot at a sprint.

In the lobby, Shinichi ignored the elevators and ran for the stairs. Elevators were risky – usually watched, and able to be externally controlled. He took the steps two at a time and made the first landing, easing open the blind door of the first floor on high alert.

No one was waiting on the other side. As he ventured farther he found that a quiet, sterile feeling like a deserted doctor office permeated the whole floor. It was all empty hallways, bland tiled floors, and closed doors with cold, clinical labels. None of those were particularly helpful – just numbered vagaries like “lab 2” or “sample room 4” – but as he hurried along in a precarious balance of quick and quiet, he heard it.

It wasn’t a scream – nothing so loud or defined. It was a wordless, gasping, keening sound, and Shinichi rushed toward it even as his insides iced over. He had to keep pausing to listen, his blood a distracting rush in his ears. He was in the correct hallway, he was sure of it. He could hear labored breaths that occasionally broke into agonized whines, soft but high in pitch. There was also… humming.

Shinichi found the door. The sounds were loudest there, carrying through from the other side. Standing before it, he switched the biker’s gun to his left hand. It was the watch he wanted to use, but he couldn’t be sure how many people were inside the room, let alone inside the building. A carful? Just Bishop? He couldn’t know, so he wouldn’t let go of his only other weapon.

Shinichi laid his hand on the doorknob and, very slowly, tried to turn it. The latch clicked without resistance and there was no point hesitating anymore. He threw open the door and took in the small, white room in a glance.

Hakuba was there, lying on some kind of padded exam table, most of his skin exposed and all of it chalky white. Just beneath the hair matted to his forehead was a black blindfold.

A woman was standing over him. She looked extremely young, and, though there was a tray of sharp medical instruments right beside her, she seemed to be wielding a small medicine dropper instead. The shaft was full of clear liquid and she was dripping it slowly onto Hakuba’s arm with great concentration. It looked like only water, but it might have been acid with the way Hakuba was reacting to it, flinching and whimpering but, somehow, unable to move any more than that.

Bloody Mary looked up when the door banged open and Shinichi already had his fingers on the trigger of the watch, but the gun was all Bloody Mary saw. The sight of it in Shinichi’s raised hand chased the concentration from her face, replacing it with a madness of fear. She tensed and her fingers pinched the dropper’s bulb hard.

Hakuba _screamed_. Shinichi fired the watch more out of surprise than in response to Bloody Mary’s hasty grab for the medical tray. She dropped and Shinichi was at Hakuba’s side a moment later.

“Hey,” he said urgently. He put the gun down and slid the blindfold away from Hakuba’s eyes but Hakuba flinched again when the knot tugged at his hair. His whole body was shaking, his eyes squeezed shut under the cloth Shinichi was fumbling to untie. “Hakuba. Can you hear me?”

He didn’t respond.

“Okay,” Shinichi breathed, grasping for focus, but it _wasn’t_ okay. _He’s not strapped down. Why can’t he move? If… _His stomach curled in on itself. _If it’s spinal damage I can’t move him. This bed thing has wheels, but the elevators… I can’t take him that way and I can’t call in an ambulance without knowing if there’s anyone else here._

“Hakuba,” Shinichi tried again. “Please, can you tell me what they did to you? I’m gonna get you out of here, but–” He’d moved to the other side of the exam table where Bloody Mary had been standing and he could see Hakuba’s left arm more clearly now. On the inside of his arm, above a swelling wrist, there was a thatch work of thin cuts. The blood smeared around them made mottled patterns on his skin where it mixed and diluted in the clear liquid wetting his arm. Shinichi made up his mind and plucked the radio from his vest.

“I found him,” he reported. “Sec– First floor, far North side. I need help to move him.”

_“Copy,”_ crackled through.

“Be careful,” Shinichi added hastily. “I have no idea who else might be in h–”

“Mary!”

Shinichi’s head jerked up. A middle-aged woman was charging into the room and Shinichi… Shinichi had set the gun down on the opposite side of the table, near Hakuba’s feet. He dropped the radio and made a grab for the gun but the woman had already whipped out a switchblade. She stabbed it straight through his hand and into the padding of the table.

Shinichi choked on the pain and folded forward over Hakuba’s legs, but adrenaline and fear jolted him up again quickly. He saw the woman’s face contorted in rage as she smacked the gun out from under his pinned fingers. It clattered and skidded all the way to the wall.

“What did you do to Mary?” she screamed. “What did you do to my daughter?! I’ll kill you!” She wrenched the blade back out of his hand and rounded the table to come at him again. She was a full head shorter than him but her fury was towering.

Shinichi took a step back and braced himself, fully expecting this woman to suddenly display a proficiency in martial arts, but the moment he squared himself up she seemed to think better of her attack. Instead, with just as much speed and ferocity, she kicked the tray of medical instruments at him, fled back to the other side of the table, and grabbed a fistful of Hakuba’s hair. Hakuba twitched violently and gasped as she wrenched his head back to put the bloody switchblade against his throat.

Shinichi froze with his good hand on the buckle of his ball belt. The woman had managed to place herself between Shinichi and the door, and place the table and Hakuba between herself and Shinichi. To make matters worse, one of the officers from outside was calling Shinichi through the radio again.

_“The doors are locked; how did you get in? Kudou, do you copy?”_

Shinichi swore, abandoning the belt to clutch at his injured hand instead. The woman – Bishop, he guessed – laughed loudly.

“Finally! Finally made a mistake!” she crowed. “Too used to working alone, Kudou?”

_Too used to being the only one who actually needs a key, _Shinichi thought bitterly. He hadn’t given a moment’s thought to how the others would get in if they needed to. And… maybe the fact that he’d left them all behind in the first place was proof that Bishop was right, too. But there was nothing to be done for it now.

“You called her Mary,” Shinichi said, nodding toward the young woman asleep on the floor on his side of the table. He could grab her, counter the hostage situation, but it was really too late for that. One move and Hakuba was dead. No choice but to keep talking and look for a way out of this mess. “I assume that means she’s Bloody Mary. And you’re Bishop. Chartreuse’s mother?” She certainly looked the part of Charlie’s mother more than Mary’s. It was likely Mary and Charlie were only half siblings, if that.

“That’s right. Now what did you do to my girl?”

“She’s sleeping; that’s all,” Shinichi promised. “I haven’t hurt her.”

“And what about Charlie?” The bitterness in her tone implied she already knew all about it, but Shinichi tried to humor her.

“He’s not hurt either – not at all. He’s been arrested, yes, but–”

“Shut. Up.” Bishop’s hand was tight on the handle of her switchblade, a fist still clenched in Hakuba’s hair. He was whimpering. Shinichi stopped talking. “I bet you’ve got handcuffs,” Bishop said. It seemed like an effort for her to think through her anger. “Put them on. Now.” She punctuated the command with a flick of her blade and Hakuba’s whole body seized, his voice momentarily lost as blood from a fresh cut across his cheek mixed with Shinichi’s blood on the blade.

Shinichi squeezed his injured hand harder just for the pain of it. “Are you sure?” he asked. “I have to take them from the back of my belt. You’re certain I’m not still armed?”

“I’m not interested in bluffs. Do it.”

“Wasn’t a bluff, actually. I was just worried what you’d do if you saw me reaching where you couldn’t see.”

He did as she asked and locked his handcuffs onto his own wrists, blood smearing all over the metal as he did, but he left them as loose as possible without being obviously useless.

“See the strap on the edge of the table there?” Bishop went on. “Buckle that around one of your wrists next.”

Again, Shinichi obeyed, but he was feeling less and less confident about finding a solution to this. He was certain he’d be able to get out of a few weak restraints he’d applied to himself, but not anywhere near fast enough to make a difference. Certainly not with Hakuba in immediate danger. All he could do now was keep stalling and wait for the Task Force officers to find a way in. He wasn’t answering on the radio; they _had_ to know something was wrong.

“So, you caught me,” Shinichi said once he’d finished his fumbling with the strap on the table. “You’ve been chasing me all around the world this whole time, right? What happens now?”

“Now? Now I _finally _kill you. I don’t care about proving a point anymore. This is just clean, simple revenge.” The blade had edged away from Hakuba, just barely but more than enough to flood Shinichi with relief.

“You don’t want to kill me,” he said, a tired litany. “Your Organization needs me for the Apoptoxin research.”

“Do they? Are you sure? I think your information is outdated. It shouldn’t be too surprising to hear that someone who believes in foolish things like immortality and _magic_ _gems_– ” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “–would also believe in curses. That person doesn’t want you around. No one will care if I kill you. Might even find you more useful that way. They can dissect you without any worry.”

“If you don’t believe in their cause, why are you working for them?”

Bishop scoffed. “I don’t need to believe what they believe to take their money. As long as I’m useful,” She leaned toward him over Hakuba with a bitter sort of smirk. “I’m _rich_.”

As she stood straight again she eyed the distance between them, clearly wondering if she could manage a nice fatal blow without surrendering the protection of Hakuba between them. Shinichi thought she probably could, though he wondered if she’d be tempted to step away to retrieve Shinichi’s fallen gun from the corner of the room. She hadn’t seemed the least bit interested in it though, so he tried to stand as far back from the table and guard his neck as much as possible from an attack with the knife.

“So all you really want is me dead,” he summarized. _Keep her talking._

“Which should have been simple,” Bishop agreed. “The plane bomb was bad luck but the hotel fire… I thought I’d worked that one out well enough.”

“Heh. I wondered about that one.” He opened and closed his right hand. It was sticky with blood but the pain of the movement wasn’t unbearable. He could ignore it and fight if he got the chance. “You sure your heart’s in the job?” he taunted, watching for a response – for a sore spot he could poke at – but she didn’t rise to it.

“I hadn’t brought a gun with me. Not worth the effort to get one through the airport or pick one up after. I’m a bit rubbish with them anyway – they upset my Mary so much.” Her eyes strayed to the floor where Mary lay sleeping but they returned to Shinichi quickly. “I wasn’t about to get too close either, though, so I thought a fire would be a nice neat way to get rid of you along with any evidence from Fernet’s murder. Charlie even got me a lighter like Merlot’s. You were a mess at the airport,” she added with a sneer. “Thought I could count on you panicking, but you still managed to get out.”

“So you figured you just had to keep trying and wait for a mistake. Like locking out my backup.”

“Exactly. So, let’s wrap this up before I lose my advantage.”

She seemed to have made up her mind about staying firmly on the opposite side of the table from him, which removed Shinichi’s last reasonable option for fighting back. If she’d come over to his side, he might at least have managed to kick her, but no. She was reaching over Hakuba with the switchblade stretched out in front of her, clearly intending to cut open Shinichi’s wrists and let him die slowly. The blade touched his skin.

Shinichi’s heartbeat _raged_. He didn’t have a plan. He could try to overturn the table on her but she’d still have free hands, a knife, and a hostage. The risk was far too great. He just needed to stall. He _did_ have backup. Surely they would make it in at any moment–

The switchblade bit into his inner arm then slashed out again in a brutal arc that splattered scarlet blood across Hakuba’s skin and the white tiled floor. Shinichi let out a short cry and heard it echo distantly. The door to the bare hallway was still open. Maybe… Maybe if–

“Wait!” Shinichi shouted as Bishop brought the knife to his other arm. If there was anyone there, if someone could _hear_ him– “Stop–!”

A gunshot spit the air, so loud Shinichi thought he could feel it in his chest. Then he realized his breath had been punched out of him and he dropped to his knees. His bound hands were lashed to the edge of the tall examination table and he let his head fall forward between his raised arms as he gasped through the pain. A bullet had hit his vest – the _front_ of his vest. _Where–?How–?_

He got his answers immediately. Kneeling below the level of the table, Shinichi watched through the x-shaped supports as Bishop crumpled face-down and lay still. Blood was seeping through her blouse, most concentrated at the hole in the exact middle of her back. A bullet _had_ hit Shinichi, but it had gone through Bishop first.

He wasn’t sure who he was going to see when he stood again, but he didn’t have a good feeling about it. It was this feeling that dragged him up so quickly. His right arm was covered in blood from the hole in his hand and the gash in his wrist, and his chest ached from the impact of the bullet, but he staggered to his feet. Hakuba was still in danger.

“What– What are you doing in England?” Shinichi asked, breathless but determined as he glared across the small room. He wriggled and wrenched until his left hand came free of the handcuffs then set to work undoing the buckle of the table’s strap without ever taking his eyes from Vermouth.

“Just cleaning up a mess,” Vermouth answered from the doorway with a nod toward Bishop. Shinichi’s jaw clenched. He finally freed himself and moved to the other side of the table to kneel by Bishop.

“You’re joking,” Vermouth said flatly when he checked for a pulse. “Let her die; she doesn’t deserve your mercy.”

“Then neither did you!” Shinichi snapped over his shoulder. Bishop was already dead but he didn’t get back to his feet. Vermouth was still holding a gun but, though Shinichi shifted to face her, there was a creeping sense of resignation that prevented him from doing anything more. “If you believe that she doesn’t then… you think you didn’t either.”

Vermouth looked away. “I think your friend is in shock. Shouldn’t you be calling for help?”

Shinichi eyed her warily, glancing over the gun again.

Vermouth scoffed. “If I wanted you dead all I had to do was wait a few more minutes before taking Bishop out.”

“No, I know you won’t kill _me_. I’m not calling anyone else in here to meet the same fate as her.”

“Look,” Vermouth said sharply. “You and I both know those darts of yours don’t last forever.” She kept her gun ready but also pulled out her phone. “You don’t want to be here when _that_ wakes up.” A call was already ringing through, the phone at Vermouth’s ear, and Shinichi cast a quick glance at Bloody Mary still asleep on the floor. After a quick conversation Vermouth hung up on the emergency dispatcher and turned back to the hallway. “I guess I’ll go let your useless backup in.”

“Don’t hurt them–”

She stopped mid-step. “I don’t take requests,” she said slowly and clearly. Then she turned back to him again and her eyes locked on Shinichi’s arm for a few long seconds. His injured hand was in a fist in a feeble attempt to put pressure on the hole there, and his left hand clutched at the deep cut above that, but he was becoming inevitably dizzier all the time. “Why isn’t Kaitou KID with you?” Vermouth suddenly demanded.

“Told him to stay behind,” Shinichi answered. “Threat in the magic troupe.”

“_In_ the troupe? We don’t have any plants in a magic troupe.”

Shinichi stared up at her for a few mute, wide-eyed seconds. Then he sighed and let his head fall forward. “Never mind, then,” he said faintly. “Forget it.” When he looked up again Vermouth was gone.

He hadn’t heard a sound from Hakuba since before Vermouth had stepped in. Fear curled up behind his cracked ribs and he tried to make it to his feet again, but almost immediately he swayed and dropped to the floor.

“Kudou!” The Task Force officers trooped into the room and his head spun as one of them propped him up again.

“Mary. Restrain Bloody Mary,” he muttered, barely remembering to dredge up some English. “Bishop is dead.”

A few foggy figures moved in response to check the bodies on the floor. Plaskitt was standing at Hakuba’s side.

“Don’t know what they did to him,” Shinichi continued. “Was like… he couldn’t move.”

“Okay. McCutcheon, watch the door in case anyone turns up. Blakesley, see if you…”

The voices and movements blended and blurred, becoming vaguer and vaguer until Shinichi, without noticing, faded away from it all.

Shinichi’s backup, as it turned out, was not useless. They worked as a unit, clearing the building, contacting emergency services, providing first aid, and transporting Hakuba and Shinichi safely down to the ground floor so they could be rushed to the nearest hospital without delay.

Plaskitt went with them. He rode in Hakuba’s ambulance and kept an unofficial watch at the hospital until the rest of the team had a chance to report back to their station and receive follow-up orders. It was another thing he’d learned from Hakuba: don’t ever let your guard down with the Organization, even when you think it’s over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There now. The boys have been collected and brought to safety. We can all let out a collective sigh of relief. Surely the three remaining chapters will be all fluff and no other trouble will present itself.
> 
> ...
> 
> :D


	20. Chapter 20

_Las Vegas Nevada, USA_

_August_

Kaito was keeping busy.

He’d worked with Akako for what little clues they could scrape together to help Shinichi. He’d put on another show with the troupe, keeping a wary eye out for trouble. He’d found footage of a young woman loading a heavy rolling trunk into a car near an alley Shinichi had already collected evidence from.

He was rewarded with a text from Shinichi saying he’d figured out Hakuba’s location and was moving in with a team of officers.

That was Kaito’s tipping point. He _needed _to take action, not just watch and wait.

Kaitou KID was already in Vegas, so Kaitou KID was the one to break into the temporary housing of Kaito’s top suspect for a plant within the troupe. Now wasn’t the time for confrontation though, so he chose to go when the place was empty. All he wanted was some verification. Some proof.

He got that, and more.

KID picked the lock and entered through the front door in the middle of the afternoon. He didn’t turn on the lights, barely touched anything at all, just walked silently through the familiar layout of the unit – a mirror to his and Shinichi’s but on another floor of the same building.

He’d just finished his observations and was about to start testing theories about where a dastardly secret was most likely to be hidden when the door opened. KID was at the window in an instant – could have been gone in a blink without being glimpsed – but he just wanted to _know _already, and that first reaction to an intruder could be invaluably telling. So he paused, crouched in the window frame, and watched Giorgio Fanucci walk in.

There was a clear line of sight from the door to the window. Giorgio saw KID immediately and KID met his eyes, fearless and defiant. He’d expected emotion – fear or anger or alarm. He’d thought, possibly, that Giorgio would even look involuntarily toward one of the hiding places KID had pegged. What he got, however, was a resigned smile and a soft, “Please wait,” as Giorgio closed the door behind him. “I’d like to explain.”

KID didn’t move and neither did Giorgio, but before long the curiosity – the _need_ – got the better of KID. He slid back inside, drew the card gun, and pointed it at Giorgio. “Back against the door, please, and keep your hands where I can see them.” Giorgio obeyed, as detachedly calm as KID was. “Who are you?”

“Giorgio Fanucci,” Giorgio answered. And, because he saw in the narrowing of KID’s eyes that that was not at all what he’d meant, he added, “Official member of the Gatti Bianchi as appointed by the polizia segreta of Italy, undercover as a costume designer for the Hopper Magic Troupe. We’re on the same side, Phantom Thief KID.”

KID considered him silently, then finally said, “‘Polizia’. That’s police, right? Are you armed?”

“My sidearm is in a locked case under the false bottom of my suitcase. I have no weapon on me now.” Giorgio smiled again. “You look skeptical.”

“A false bottom in a suitcase would not get a gun through airport security,” KID answered flatly. “Why tell such an obvious lie?”

“Because it’s the truth,” Giorgio said with a shrug. “The barrel is etched with the symbol of the Gatti Bianchi. We have an arrangement through Interpol that allows us to–”

“You’re with Interpol?” KID interrupted.

Giorgio blinked back at him. “Well, yes.”

In an instant, KID’s white flip phone was open in his free hand and a call was ringing through to Megure. He answered fairly quickly, but groggily. “Yes, Megure.”

“Inspector, this is Kaitou KID.”

“K-KID-san?” Megure choked, sounding much more awake now.

“Sorry to disturb you so early, but it’s important. I need confirmation of a group called Gatti Bianchi that is supposedly with Interpol.”

“What, uh, what was the name again?” KID could hear him scrambling for pen and paper. He took down the information as KID repeated it. “Got it,” he said, reading it back. “Is everything all right? Do you need backup?”

KID breathed out a quiet laugh. “That’s very kind of you, Inspector, but I have everything under control. Please text the details to this number once you know. And thank you.” He closed the phone and refocused on Giorgio. He’d been keeping an eye on him all the while but Giorgio hadn’t moved.

“I’ll admit,” Giorgio said. “You’re starting to make me uneasy. I was under the impression that you were also with Interpol, but you’d have been speaking English or French if that was who you’d called. What was that about?”

“Essentially the same,” KID answered. “But I am _not_ with Interpol. The truce ended last year. I’m just a thief with a very specific agenda and a few good contacts who habitually forget that.”

Giorgio leaned back against the door and folded his arms, the motion slow and deliberate. Both hands remained in full view, resting just above his elbows. “Is there any way we might discuss this more comfortably? Regardless of what you want to call it, I still think we’re on the same side.”

“That will depend on the answer I receive from my contact.”

It was a tense and awkward few minutes, but when the text came through KID lowered his gun. “So Gatti Bianchi is legitimate,” he said slowly. “Mind if I verify your weapon?”

“Do I really have another option?” Giorgio returned. “In all honesty, I’d rather you didn’t. The idea of you with my gun in your hand and me unarmed is an uncomfortable one for me. You’ve already admitted you’re not with law enforcement anymore.”

KID shrugged. “Fair enough,” he said, and proceeded to open Giorgio’s suitcase anyway. He wondered faintly if Giorgio would try to leave while KID was occupied with finding the access to the false bottom. He was, after all, right by the door, but other than tensing when KID brushed past the lock on the hidden box, he didn’t move.

KID eased open the lid. Inside was a foam insert with sections cut out for a handgun, silencer, and extra magazines, but while the silencer and magazines were all present, the spot for the gun was empty.

KID heard the familiar click of the safety behind him and raised his empty hands. “That was a splendid lie. Very well done,” he said mildly.

“Of course it was; what do you take me for?”

“One of the good guys.”

“What, like you?” There was something in Giorgio’s voice. Reluctance. That was the closest KID could come to defining it. “Do you really expect me to trust you? You break in, threaten me, you say you’re not with Interpol – that you’re a thief with your own motives–”

“And that we’re on the same side.” KID took a chance and turned slowly to face Giorgio. Giorgio didn’t move, his back to the door and the gun pointed at KID, held steady in both hands. “The people the Gatti Bianchi are fighting against, I’ve been fighting them for… longer than you could know,” KID sighed. “And I did it alone. No police, no Interpol, no backup. But then one reckless idiot of a detective turned up and decided to throw his lot in with mine.”

“Detective? …Shinichi Kudou?”

KID nodded. “The same detective who tipped me off that you weren’t quite who you’d said you were. You still haven’t proven you’re not with the Organization, by the way,” he tossed out casually.

Giorgio barely hesitated. He tipped his gun to the side a little so KID could see the symbol of the Gatti Bianchi – two small triangles side by side and touching at their bottom corners – etched there and highlighted in bright white paint to stand out clearly against the dark metal. KID breathed out a silent sigh.

“Here,” he said, and the card gun both reappeared in his hand and was tossed to the bed so quickly that Giorgio didn’t have time to feel threatened. He stared at it, bewildered. “I’d like to know more,” KID explained. “Is that enough to ‘discuss more comfortably’?”

Giorgio nodded slowly and lowered his gun. “What you call them… It translates to ‘Black Organization’ I think?” He glanced at KID’s shadowed face and received a nod in confirmation. “And you – or the people you had your truce with – are called the Organization Task Force. Well, you already know they’re all over the world. In Italy, we call them Corvi Oscuri.” There was unmistakable hate in his voice as he said the name. “And we are Gatti Bianchi.”

“How many of you are in Hopper’s troupe?” KID asked.

Giorgio shook his head. “Just me. I was placed into the troupe six years ago, after– well. You know. You were there.”

A shiver of realization worked its way through Kaito’s insides. “Snake.”

“That’s right. Ms. Hopper still holds the Red Tear, so it’s possible they’ll try to steal it again, though they haven’t made any other attempts so far. Whatever you did to them that night, they must not have forgotten it so easily. But I stayed with the troupe. It was a good fit and it allowed me to travel freely, research, and fight the Corvi Oscuri around the world.”

“Ms. Hopper is no longer a target.”

Giorgio scrutinized him again. “You sound certain.”

“I know _why_ they wanted the Red Tear. They thought it might have been a different gem. One they’d been looking for for a long, long time. _I_ found that gem, and I destroyed it in front of them.”

It surprised them both a little when Giorgio laughed. “A thief with a specific agenda, right?” he said and KID smirked. “Well, don’t let my superiors know Ms. Hopper is off their list. I like my job.”

_And you’re very good at it, _Kaito did not add. The thought sent something warm and fluttery though his chest that he hadn’t allowed in any earlier than now. _This is why I couldn’t see any of them as a threat even while Shinichi was convinced someone wasn’t who they’d said they were. We were both right. We just had to trust ourselves more. _

“Although,” Giorgio said, pulling Kaito from his hidden relief. “You clearly suspected me of being undercover in some respect, enough that you broke into my room. What tipped you off?”

“Ah. It was a combination of several things, I think,” KID explained. “You’d had long-term exposure to the greatest detective I know and he confided his observations and suspicions to me out of concern for his fiancé. You shouldn’t let it bother you.”

“But the… combination of things?”

“The first was your absence just before a bomb was detonated on a plane in a London airport.”

Giorgio huffed out a little laugh. “Ah, well, that couldn’t be helped. I wasn’t around because I was starting fires on the runway.”

KID froze. “Why?” he asked slowly.

“It was a calculated risk.” There was no confidence or coldness in the statement. If anything, there might have been regret in the words. “I had to expose the bomb without exposing the Gatti Bianchi, but more than that, I had to do it in a way that would not tip the bomber off to a search of the plane. If they knew we were checking it, they might have set the bomb off on purpose. As it was, I believe the fire set it off.” He ducked his head a little. “At least no one was killed.”

KID stayed silent. He didn’t know what he would have done in the same scenario. He didn’t think that it mattered. There could be no judgment when it came to people doing their best to protect others under dismal odds.

“Anyway,” Giorgio said, rallying himself with a brave sort of smile. “That can’t be all that tipped you off. After all, I wasn’t the only person who’d gone off on their own at the airport.”

“The next,” KID said. “Was your skill set. Disguise-level costuming on par with the Phantom Thief KID.” He bowed his head a little in acknowledgment. “Skill like that is rare.”

“Heh. I might have just been good at my job.”

“But as I said, it’s the combination. Your job cannot explain how an armed bus hijacking did not seem to faze you, nor can it explain how easily you accepted Detective Kudou’s actions in that scenario.”

“I guess it’s true what they say then. It takes one to know one. I’ll admit I’m… comfortable around Shinichi. I’m sure you feel it from him, too. The fight in him. The relentlessness and determination.” Giorgio shook his head and rubbed his free hand over his face. “I feel it from you, too,” he mumbled before getting himself in hand again. “Was that it, then? The things that gave me away?”

“There were others too, I’m sure,” KID said from behind his poker face. There was no sense showing just how relieved he was that Giorgio – that Mr. Fanucci, the man he knew and had worked so closely with over the past year – really was the good man he’d taken him for. “Insignificant, subtle things that detectives just seem to absorb,” he went on. “But yes, those are the main things.”

“I’ll be all right then, I think. I’ll be careful to act appropriately traumatized in the event of danger going forward, but that should be fine.” He gave KID a small smile. “Well then, is there anything else you need from me?”

“No.” KID slipped his hands into his pockets, his posture purposefully relaxing. “I think you were right before. No matter what we call it, we’re on the same side.” He hesitated for a few seconds then produced a small card with the KID doodle on one side and the number for the white flip phone on the other. “I’ll be going back to Japan soon,” he said, and a pang shot through his chest. Would he? How was Shinichi doing in London? Had he saved Hakuba already? Or would Kaito be getting on a plane the first chance he got, secure in the knowledge that the Gatti Bianchi were watching over the troupe? “But if I can ever be of assistance to you in your fight, please call.” He held out the card and Giorgio stepped farther into the room to take it.

“I’d offer the same but… I have a strong feeling you already have my number, Phantom Thief KID.” He set the safety on his gun and switched it to his other hand so he could shake KID’s. “Take care.”

“You too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a refresher, Giorgio is originally from Italy : ) Gatti Bianchi translates to White Cats and Corvi Oscuri is Dark Crows. And now the white cats... are out of the bag!!! *rim shot*
> 
> That was terrible and I'm not sorry X'D


	21. Chapter 21

_London, England_

_August_

Kaito was in a hospital again. Shinichi’s reaction to this was to yell at him.

“Idiot!” Shinichi snapped as soon as Kaito stepped into his room. He was sitting up in bed, his left arm hooked up to an IV and his right arm and hand stitched, bandaged, and resting in a sling. “I told you not to leave the troupe–”

Kaito headed him off. “You told me not to leave because we were worried there was an Organization member in hiding, but there’s not. Everything’s okay. They’re safe.” He explained about Giorgio, about the Gatti Bianchi and the reasons behind everything that had made them suspicious. “So never mind about that for now. Are you okay?” He’d requested a full report as KID the moment he’d heard the rescue mission was over and that Shinichi was in the hospital. Akai had managed to acquire it for him, so he knew everything that had happened. The Task Force had gotten to Shinichi quickly – he _knew_ Shinichi was all right now – but he still squeezed Shinichi’s shoulder with some anxiety as he looked him over.

“I’m fine, really,” Shinichi sighed, then flinched at a spike of pain from his ribs. “Romain-sensei just fusses,” he finished anyway.

“Romain-sensei?” There was a part of Kaito that wanted to be alarmed but Shinichi was calm so he didn’t quite manage it.

“Yeah. She came right out of hiding like this is all perfectly normal. Came to England and spoke with the doctors here. I’m sure she’s still around somewhere.”

“But–”

“Don’t worry. She’s safe. Vermouth… Vermouth sent a pretty clear message: try to skirt around orders from above and you’ll get shot in the back. The Organization is supposedly done hunting me for good.” And that news, as impactful as it should have been, was entirely eclipsed by Shinichi’s next sentence. “Have you been to see Hakuba?”

Kaito drew his hand back and shifted his weight, his eyes lowered to a corner of hospital blanket. “No. I came straight here.” He had to force himself to ask, “How is he?”

It was clear that Kaito was afraid of the answer. Shinichi was, too, but at least he wasn’t alone anymore. “I don’t know. Come with me to find out?”

They didn’t wait for permission. Kaito helped Shinichi remove the IV and found him clothes to change into that weren’t soaked with blood. They kept close to each other as they walked the hallways, Shinichi’s good hand clasped tightly in Kaito’s.

They found Hakuba’s room only because they happened to be passing it when Baya stepped out and closed the door behind her. She was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Shinichi and Kaito both froze.

“Oh,” she breathed out when she noticed them. “Kuroba-kun. Kudou-kun.” Her lip trembled but she bit it hard and collected herself without spilling any more tears. “Oh, Kudou-kun, thank you so much. Thank you so much for saving Bocchama.”

Kaito got his voice together first. “How… How is he?”

“He does not seem to be badly injured,” Baya answered, but she wasn’t smiling. “The doctors do not know why he hasn’t woken up. I believe they are analyzing the results of his blood tests now but… Kudou-kun, if there is anything you could tell them?” The hope was unmistakable in her voice and eyes as she gazed imploringly at him.

“Did they collect samples from the lab where we found him?” Shinichi asked. In truth, he didn’t feel like he knew any more than Baya did. Hakuba had been drugged when the Organization had grabbed him, they’d inflicted some minor injuries, and for some unknown reason it seemed Hakuba had been unable to move. This last Shinichi was sure he’d managed to convey to the Task Force before he’d passed out, but it sounded like the doctors had found no spinal damage, or anything else that would explain it so far.

“Yes,” Baya said. “A young man from Bocchama’s station made sure of it.”

Shinichi nodded. There _was_ one other thing he’d observed in that room: Hakuba had been in _pain_. Pain so intense he could not speak. Shinichi had seen no external cause but he was certain something had been done to him beyond what met the eye. But he couldn’t tell Baya. He wasn’t even sure he could tell Kaito yet. There was guilt mixed in with that knowledge, and until he’d done everything he could to work with the doctors and make sure Hakuba was all right, he didn’t think he had the strength to admit what he had witnessed. What he had caused.

“Can we see him?” Kaito was asking beside him.

Baya shook her head. “I’ve just left to give his mother some time with him.” She turned away, her handkerchief pressed to her lips. “Just… Just give her some time,” she said, and hastily excused herself to the restroom.

They tracked down Mirla next. As they had suspected, she’d wormed her way into Hakuba’s treatment research as well. Apparently, even a year ago when KID had called Mirla to Japan to stay on standby for his team of thieves during Shinichi’s kidnapping, Mirla had been worked into the legalities through Task Force-related loopholes. There was absolutely no way it was legitimate and Shinichi absolutely did not care. The three of them ducked into a meeting room and Shinichi steeled himself to tell her and Kaito everything.

“It begins to make some sense,” Mirla said when he’d finished. Shinichi raised his head, barely daring to hope. “From what you say, I believe ze solution zis ‘Bloody Mary’ was dripping onto ‘is lacerations was ze alcohol and saline solution we identified from ze lab. Not something to ‘arm; only something to hurt. Also in ze lab was a machine which, from what you describe, may ‘ave been used to artificially stimulate muscle contraction using electricity. Normally zis will cause no ‘arm, but, supposing your friend was exposed to zis for a significant time, ze muscles would become very sore. Very sensitive to movement. Zis does not explain everything, but zere is a drug we ‘ave not identified yet zat was found in zat lab. If its purpose is to cause pain, just as each of zese others were…”

“Could it have… magnified the pain he was already feeling?” Shinichi asked quietly. “Is that possible?”

“Is it possible for a body to revert to childhood?” Mirla said solemnly. “Is it possible to halt death? Zis… _organization_ does not ‘old ‘possible’ up against its desires. I think zis is ze explanation zat makes sense, and I will bring zis to ze others so we may set everything right.”

Mirla had graciously looked the other way as far as Shinichi’s self-discharge, so they put the official paperwork through to have him released from the hospital, then got a hotel room nearby. All of Shinichi’s things were in another hotel across town but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was tired, and he wanted to stay close to the hospital because surely Hakuba would wake up and be able to have visitors soon. Mirla and the other doctors would identify the one mystery drug that had been used on him and everything would be fine.

“You haven’t said anything about Bishop.”

Shinichi curled a little in bed, encouraging the pain in his ribs as the image of Bishop, crumpled on the floor of the lab, flashed through his mind. Charlie’s mother. Mary’s mother. Dead. “I don’t want to think about it.”

Kaito didn’t say anything. He knew exactly how Shinichi must be feeling, and he knew just as well that there were no words that could help.

“What do you think would have happened if I’d just… stopped,” Shinichi murmured. “If I’d just left the Organization alone.”

Kaito did Shinichi the courtesy of actually considering that, even though his answer felt ready to burst from him. “I would be dead,” he finally said. “Countless undercover agents, too. And everyone _they’ve _saved. Haibara, and–” He cut himself off. Shinichi was growing more tense. To Kaito, these lives saved were victories, but to Shinichi, in that moment, they were reminders of all the danger, and all the people who’d had to suffer through it. Kaito curled himself around Shinichi. “It’s not a choice, Shinichi,” he reminded him quietly. “None of it. The Organization aside, we couldn’t choose not to help someone. Way past all the logic and deductions, when someone needs you, you act. You help. No thinking required. You just don’t need a _reason_ to save someone, right?”

Shinichi abruptly jerked away from him and Kaito sat up, startled. Shinichi was already on his feet next to the bed, staring at Kaito with undisguised fear. “Vermouth,” he whispered.

“What–?”

“Why can’t you just leave me alone? What the _hell_ do you want with me?” He was backing away, edging toward the door. Kaito leapt up and caught his good arm before he could run.

“Shinichi– _Shinichi_! Stop it, it’s me!” He forced Shinichi’s hand up to his face and held it against his cheek. “You can feel it, right? No mask. Just me.”

Far from being reassured, Shinichi looked more horrified than ever. The idea of Vermouth sneaking into his room, into his bed, past his guard, was nothing compared to the realization that he’d only made himself believe that she had.

Kaito’s hands – warm, callused, and familiar – cradled Shinichi’s face as he brushed unformed tears from his eyes. “Hey,” he said, and as gentle as his hands were, his voice was firm. He wouldn’t treat Shinichi like he was some fragile, delicate thing. Not anymore. It had never helped. “Let’s figure this out. What made you think I was Vermouth all of a sudden?”

“Sh-She– You– You said…” He’d started shivering, could feel sweat gathering on his skin while everything in his head prickled out.

Suddenly he was sitting on the edge of the bed with Kaito close beside him. Kaito didn’t say or do anything. He just sat there with him, his arm around Shinichi’s waist and his head tipped against Shinichi’s. His eyes were closed, and he was waiting. Shinichi took a breath, and then another, and when his throat unknotted he said, “‘You don’t need a logical reason to save someone.’”

“What?”

“I said that to her. Eight…” He took another breath. “Eight years ago. In New York.”

“…And then I said it to you, just now. That’s why you thought it was her.” Shinichi was surprised to catch a faint smile on his face.

“But you know,” Kaito continued. “I’d never heard those words from you, Shinichi. I only said them because they’re true. For you and me, they’re true.”

When Shinichi and Kaito returned to the hospital the next afternoon, Hakuba was awake. They managed to sneak some time alone with him in between the doctors and his family.

“As I understand it,” Hakuba said just as primly as ever, sitting up in his hospital bed with his left arm braced and bandaged in a near mirror of Shinichi’s right. “Whatever experimental drug Bloody Mary used on me has run its course, but has left some side effects.”

“Like what?” Kaito asked, but he hadn’t missed a single jerking flinch that Hakuba had made since they’d entered the room. It looked like he had his own personal poltergeist prodding him every now and then with a poker.

“Nerve damage,” he answered. Shinichi looked instantly horrified so Hakuba held up a hand to stop him from interrupting. He flinched as he did, possibly from the movement or possibly because he just couldn’t stop. “It will not impact much, if it is even permanent,” Hakuba continued. “There is a possibility the nerves will heal, but if they cannot I will simply have a drastically minimized sense of touch.”

“That… you make that sound like it’s nothing,” Kaito said quietly. He was looking down at his own hands now, trying to imagine what it would be like not to feel the flight of a deck of cards in the midst of a trick, or to know if something was hot or cold, or to be able to feel around in the dark.

“It… will take some getting used to,” Hakuba allowed. “The, ah, spasms are most likely psychosomatic, or so I’m told. I am to take medical leave here in England for a few months for physical monitoring and trauma counseling, but I expect to return to work, and to Japan, early next year. Do you know where the two of you will be by then?”

They let the conversation turn to ordinary things, but the underlying tension in them all kept their visit short. Hakuba looked exhausted by the time they said their goodbyes less than half an hour later.

In the lobby, Shinichi tugged Kaito to a stop, squeezing tight on his hand. “We’ll be back in Japan soon,” he said. Just a few more shows in Vegas and the troupe would be moving on to their final location. “When we get back, I want to try the psych evaluation again. And… I honestly don’t know if I’ll pass it, but if I don’t then I’ll keep trying. I’ll get whatever help I need.” He smiled at Kaito, a hint of ruefulness twisting it into a smirk. “Until you don’t have to ask me if I’m okay anymore.”

“Oh?” Kaito said, his own smile soft with understanding. “Even if I don’t have to though, you know I still will.”

Shinichi leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. “I can live with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one chapter to go. It seems like it went so quickly *wistful sighs* lol


	22. Chapter 22

_Epilogue_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Mid-September_

“Oh my god we’re home!” Kaito dropped his bags in the genkan, kicked off his shoes, and ran for the sitting room. Whipping off the furniture cover, he dove face-first onto the couch, inhaled deeply, then frowned. “Shinichi, get over here. We need to make this place smell like us again.”

Shinichi walked into the sitting room. “I chose to interpret that innocently.”

“You have chosen wisely,” Kaito pouted into the cushions.

“We should try to clean this place up a little while we’re here.”

Kaito raised his head. Shinichi was tugging covers off of the chairs and coffee table but dropping them on the dusty floor rather than trying to bundle them up with one arm. “Shinichi,” Kaito said, and his tone was serious enough that Shinichi stopped and gave him his full attention. “You’ve been talking for a while like my staying with the troupe or not is only my decision, but what about you? I thought you wanted to work on getting back onto the Task Force and everything. What have _you_ decided?”

“What’s there to decide? If we stay, we stay. If not, I’ll see if there’s any way I can get onto the force with any cross-country allowances, and the traveling detective gig is a solid fallback option if I can’t.”

“You’d really let me drag you all over the world for a whole ‘nother year?”

“Kaito, it’s your _job_. What’s one more year?”

Kaito let his face drop back into the couch again. “Uggghhh you are ridiculous and I love you for it,” he mumbled. “But that does not make my decision any easier.”

Shinichi went to the couch and perched on the edge of one of the cushions. “What, were you hoping I’d lay down an ultimatum or something? Or tell you to do the next tour without me?”

“Maybe?”

“Too bad.”

Kaito groaned again. He looked fairly pathetic so Shinichi took some pity on him and carefully rearranged himself to sit on top of Kaito with his knees on either side of Kaito’s hips. He slid his good hand under Kaito’s shirt and rubbed his back.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

“You do?” Kaito mumbled.

“We’re gonna take Sonoko out to dinner and get her professional opinion on your status as a rising name in the magic industry. She’ll tell it like it is and hopefully that’ll help you figure out if it’s time to go solo or not. Simple.”

“That’s sounds pretty good. Good idea. Let’s do that.”

“You can call and ask her later. For right now, you need to get off your ass and help me clean.”

“I’m not on my ass,” Kaito replied promptly. “Actually, _you’re_ on my ass.”

“Hm. That’s true.” Shinichi leaned forward and bit down gently on the shell of Kaito’s ear. “It’s kind of nice here. Just a shame the bedroom’s not clean, isn’t it?”

“If you’re just teasing to get me to do chores I will be very upset. You wanna top while you’re still favoring your right arm? And what about your ribs? I’m not falling for it.”

“Oh I think I can manage.” Shinichi stood and offered his good arm to help Kaito to his feet.

“I’m going to insist you prove it,” he said with a grin.

One week later, after a tremendously successful magic show attended (courtesy of Sonoko’s pocketbook) by nearly all of Kaito’s friends and family, after a long and serious discussion with Sonoko, and after a much shorter discussion with Shinichi, Kaito met with Jody Hopper to officially turn down the renewal of his contract.

“I really don’t even know what to say,” Kaito said after she’d accepted his resignation. His face was tilted down toward his teacup as he sat at the small table in Jody’s Tokyo housing. “I mean, this past year has been incredible and I’ve learned so much. Taking me on like you did… you saved my whole career. I really can’t thank you enough–”

She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Kaito, really, it was my pleasure. And I knew when I hired you that you weren’t the troupe type. I’d have been surprised if you’d signed on for another year. You’ll certainly be missed, though.”

“It’ll be hard, not seeing everybody all the time,” Kaito sighed. “When do you think the troupe will be back in Japan again?”

“We’re booked to be in Osaka end of next year. As soon as you get your business matters in order, give me a call. I have a strong feeling that by then it would be a real boost for the troupe to get Kuroba Kaito on stage with us.” She grinned at him then held out her hand to shake his firmly. “Best of luck, Kaito.”

“It’s been an honor.”

With the final decision made and a sense of permanence gradually settling over the Kudou manor, Kaito and Shinichi’s to-do list suddenly and aggressively expanded.

Kaito still had the last leg of the tour to finish with the troupe. He and Shinichi were trying to squeeze in as much socializing as they could before they all returned to England without them, but they also needed time for their circle of friends from Japan. All of them were eager to catch each other up on everything that had happened in the past year. Shinichi, at Mirla’s gentle prodding, had also committed time each week to sessions with a local police counselor prior to his psych evaluation.

Then there was the house. The cleaning alone was a massive undertaking, but they’d also left their custom security system half finished when they’d run off to another country, and Kaito still had every intention of building a KID room somewhere in the depths of the manor.

Between all that, a wedding to plan, and the tingling, electric promise of new heists in the air, things were certainly busy – and that had never felt more _right_.

October arrived in no time at all, and Kaito and Shinichi stood in the airport lobby saying goodbye to the troupe.

“Well, I’m officially retired now,” Roberto was saying as he shook Kaito’s hand. “So I won’t be seeing you next year. The troupe’s in good hands with Kitty, though.”

Katie Elliot smiled and saluted to Kaito before she and Roberto headed off toward the security gates. Kaito saw Phan Thị Khiêm, the lighting manager, already a good way off in that direction. She caught his eye and stuck her tongue out, but she wasn’t quite able to hide a smile as she turned away.

Thijs was shaking hands with Kaito and Shinichi when Nadette came up, punched Shinichi roughly in the (left) arm, then pounced on Kaito to ruffle his hair vigorously with both hands. “See you later, losers!” she declared, then scampered off before Kaito could retaliate.

“It will seem quiet without you two,” Thijs chuckled.

“Na,” Kaito replied. “Lili and Nat will keep things lively.”

“Did I hear my name?”

Thijs gave a final wave as Lili came over, looking up at Kaito and Shinichi with her hands fisted on her hips. She stared them down hard, then said slowly and clearly, “I will text you _every day_.” It sounded like a threat. Shinichi laughed and opened his arms to hug her goodbye. Her show partner, Miguel, was waiting for her back toward security. They both turned back and waved one more time before blending into the airport crowds.

West and Ahadi found them next. “Hey,” West said. “Heard a rumor you might be our opening act when the troupe hits Osaka next year.”

Kaito’s eyebrows went up. “Rumors already? Let me guess. Nat?”

“Of course,” West agreed.

“Shinichi,” Ahadi said quietly, and it was Shinichi’s turn to be surprised. Ahadi wasn’t shy, but she found English difficult and didn’t talk much except to West.

“Yeah, what’s up, Ahadi?”

“Violin,” she said. “For the show?”

“What do you think?” West asked with a grin. “When we’re in Osaka, we could get _everybody_ on stage together if you provide the music for Ahadi’s segment.”

Shinichi flushed. “Uh, but– But how would we practice–?”

“Couple of Skype meetings to figure the piece out, then record it and send the file over. Ahadi can practice with the recording, then once we’re in Japan again you guys will only have to fine-tune it a little. What do you say?”

Shinichi immediately looked to Kaito.

“Oh, don’t look at me; you know _I _want you up there. This is your call.”

“I think it’s Ms. Hopper’s call,” Shinichi skirted.

Kaito grinned. “That’s a yes,” he told West and Ahadi.

“Excellent!” West clapped Shinichi on the shoulder. “We’ll look forward to working with you, Nug– Er…”

“What’s wrong?”

West looked away. “Heh, nothing. I just have a little troubling thinking of you as ‘Nugget’ after you’ve…”

“Saved you from gun-wielding bus-jackers?” Kaito suggested.

“Ran an undercover FBI mission at a Vegas casino?” Shinichi wondered.

“Broke into the secret lab of a global crime syndicate to rescue an officer of the law who’d been taken hostage?” Kaito went on.

“Uh. Yes.”

There was a beat of silence before they all started laughing. Ahadi and West said their goodbyes and went off beaming and waving into the crowds. Shinichi let out a breath.

“I’m gonna end up on stage,” he muttered to Kaito. “I hate you.”

“Please. The minute you pick up that violin you won’t even notice where you are anymore. You’ll be fine.”

They both started a little when Giorgio very casually slipped between them and snuck an arm around each of their shoulders. “Well, it’s been eventful, my friends,” he said, then added in an undertone, “I’ll look after the troupe. You two stay safe, and contact me if you ever need me.” He pulled away then and waved cheerfully as he followed the others toward security. “See you next time!”

“Bye Mr. Fanucci!” Kaito called after him.

“Uh, Kaito,” Shinichi said a few moments later. “You… didn’t tell him who you were when you, er, visited his room that one time, right?”

“Right,” Kaito agreed, but there was a sort of twist to his expression, a lot like the look Kaito would get whenever Yusaku reminded him of just how much he knew.

Shinichi nodded. “Right,” he echoed, resigned.

They tabled any further discussion as Jody walked up to them. “Well, it’s been a great year, Kaito,” she said with one of her rare unreserved smiles. “And you’re not my employee anymore so…” All at once Jody threw her arms around Kaito’s neck and for a startled moment both Shinichi and Kaito thought she might kiss him. But instead, she put her lips to Kaito’s ear and whispered, “Thank you for everything, Kaitou KID.”

_Not you, too, _Kaito groaned inwardly. He kept his outward reaction schooled to only a stare when she stepped back. Jody winked and waved a finger at him.

“I know your magic,” she said. “So I know your heart. That’s something you can’t hide. Not from me.” She turned to Shinichi then and shook his hand. “You take care of him.”

“As much as I can,” Shinichi laughed. “See you next year.”

They watched as Jody headed into the crowd, calling out and waving above heads to herd her magicians and crew.

Kaito and Shinichi waited there, waving as troupe members glanced back for final goodbyes until all of them were out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S NO WEDDING IN HERE??
> 
> Never fear, my deers. The wedding _will_ happen. And it’ll be in the _next_ installment of the Fall into Flying ‘verse (because I’m clearly not done pushing my luck with this series XD)
> 
> Ah but this one is over, and what a journey it’s been. This story has owned my life for the past two years, more even, so it feels weird knowing it’s totally behind me now. But now’s the time to focus on the next bit! The next will be shorter than Fall into Flying, Gravity, and Tales of Travel were, so I feel like it could be done before 2021, but we all know how wrong I was with my Tales of Travel estimate XD XD But regardless, chapters 1 and 2 of the next part are complete already (aaaaand I’m totally stuck on chapter 3). 
> 
> Other than that, I have surprisingly little to say. I do hope this little adventure was enjoyable for everybody. I’ll see you next time~♥
> 
> ~DS


End file.
